Double Take
by Rangerfan2012
Summary: Steph has a stalker. When someone with a striking resemblance to Steph come to Trenton, will the stalker be fooled? Will Ranger admit his feelings for Steph. Babe HEA and one Merry Man will have a HEA of his own.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 1

SPOV

Another day, Another Stalker. It's just another day in the life of Stephanie Michelle Plum, the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. I have brown curly hair and blue eyes, which unfortunately around Trenton, New Jersey makes me easily recognizable. This probably explains why when I go to the grocery store and park whatever P.O.S. car I am currently driving, people run out of the store to move their cars to the other side of the parking lot. Ha! Like that would keep their cars safe. When my cars explode it can be seen for miles. Anyway, just like I've lost count of how many of my cars have blown up (most are really not my fault), I have lost count of stalkers. This one seems to be rather disappointing. The dead roses on my welcome mat outside of my apartment are completely cliché. At least I found the roses before Ranger or one of his Merry Men found them.

Ranger Manoso is many things to me: my mentor, my protector, my best friend, and my occasional (rarely) lover. Despite Ranger's promise that if my bed was empty too long, that he would gladly climb in, he has yet to make good on his promise. Trust me, I've been waiting. I am hopeless head over heels in love with Ranger, but I will have to love him from afar. Don't get me wrong, he's told me he loves me, but it comes with qualifiers. Of all his excuses the one that is by far my favorite is 'My love comes with a condom, not a ring.' Joe Morelli and I have been permanently off for four months and he has yet to warm my sheets.

Joe and I broke up when I decided that I would rather be a single bounty hunter rolling around in garbage for the rest of my life, than be married to him and forced to become a perfect 'Burg wife and mother. Don't get me wrong, while I'm totally opposed to getting married and having kids, I'm also not totally in support of getting married and having kids. Joe took this information much better than my mother, and trust me Joe didn't take it well at all.

Joe has since moved on nice 'Burg girl named Jenny Salvatore. She wants to be everything I don't want to be. Even better, Grandma Bella loves her. That is not the case with Joe's mother, Angie, but no one has ever been good enough for her "little boy". I really expect an engagement announcement soon. In my personal opinion, the best part of Joe and Jenny dating is that when my cars explode or my apartment is bombed, his rants are much less intense. I also heard that Maloxx's stock is down since he doesn't need to buy it anymore. So overall it's worked out for the best.

I sit the dead roses on the dining room table, at least I can keep the vase, and pull the card out of the attached envelope.

_Roses are red, Violets are blue_

_ If you don't fall in love with me_

_ It will be the death of you_

Good grief, even the card isn't very original. If there is a book for the cheesiest letters from a stalker, it would be written by this guy. I don't even feel threatened. I would call Lula so we could have a good laugh about it, but she and Tank are in an on-again phase of their relationship. If I tell her, she would tell Tank, then Tank would tell Ranger, and I would be on lock down at Haywood, where Ranger's security business, Rangeman, is located. It's so secure, it would be like I was in prison. Lockdown is something I can't afford right now. My rent is due in a week and I need the money from chasing skips.

In the past, when I was desperate for money Ranger would let me work at Rangeman running searches and background checks. That is currently not an option for me since I haven't had a social orgasm since a month before Joe and I broke up. If I go to Rangeman, I'm afraid I would jump Ranger in the control room in front of his 'Merry Men'. I could probably claim temporary insanity, but the Merry Men would tease me constantly. I would never be able to live it down.

Back to reality, I better get these roses and note out of here. If I leave them in my apartment someone will find them while I'm at work. My apartment door should be replaced with a revolving door since a five year old could break into my apartment. I toss the flowers and note in the trash bag. I gather the trash bag, my purse, and my keys and head to the dumpster. At least the evidence of my stalker is gone so I can pretend he doesn't exist. My grandmother's big blue Buick is parked next to the dumpster. Once I throw the bag in the dumpster I climb in to the Buick and head to the bonds office.

A couple of years ago I blackmailed my cousin Vinnie into giving me a job as a bounty hunter. There's a nasty rumor about Vinnie and a duck. It's amazing what the words "Lucille" and "Duck" can get you. Whenever he threatens to fire me or rehire my arch nemesis , Joyce Barnhart (or Barnyard as I prefer to call her), I just look at Vinnie and say "Duck". The look of fear on his face is priceless, then he runs into his office shuts the door to hide out. Like I said, priceless.

I carefully, well almost carefully, park Big Blue into a parking space. At least only one tire is up on the curb this time, so I count it as a success. As I climb out of the car my spidey senses go off. I know I'm being watched and it's not good. I quickly walk into the bonds office to see Connie Rossoli and Lula sitting at Connie's desk eating a bucket of chicken from Cluck in the Bucket. Unfortunately all that's left is a wing so I snatch it before sitting down in the chair across from Connie's desk.

"White girl, I was going to eat that." Lula says pointing at me. You have to love Lula, she is such an individual. Today she was dressed in a bright yellow spandex dress (three sizes too small), bright yellow 4 inch FMP's, and matching yellow hair, not blonde, yellow. The yellow make her dark skin tone appear to be even darker.

"I'm broke, my rent is due, and you snooze, you lose. Connie, do you have any skips for me?" I ask.

"The only one is old man Salvatore. It's worth about two hundred dollars to you if you bring him in." She said as she adjusted her boobs which were practically falling out of her dress. Connie bears a striking resemblance to Betty Boop, but Connie's breasts are much, much larger.

"Jenny's grandpa?" I ask. "What on earth did he do?"

"He went streaking thru the 'Burg"

"Are you serious? Why didn't Jenny get Joe to help him get out of this?" If I had been Jenny I would have wrung Joe's neck for helping my grandpa. Lord knows that what I would have done if Joe and I were still dating and Grandma Mazur was arrested.

Lula never one to be left out of a conservation. "Gaspick was the arresting officer. Rumor has it that Officer Hottie try to bribe Gassy with tickets to the Rangers game. Supposedly, Gaspick is even a bigger Ranger's fan than you are, and he still wouldn't drop the charges."

Bigger Ranger's fan than me, I think I've just been insulted. Suddenly I feel a tingle on the back of my neck, followed by a familiar hand on my shoulder. "Hi, Ranger" I say without turning around. I'm afraid if I turn around I'll start drooling, or even worse jump him in the bonds office.

"Babe." Ranger says with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Oops. Did I say that out loud?" I can feel my face turning red.

"Uh huh." Connie and Lula answer.

"Crap."

"Babe, don't go anywhere. We need to talk." Ranger turns to Connie. "He in?"

"Go on back. I haven't heard any animal noises coming from his computer in over an hour. It should be safe. " Connie tells him.

Ranger cringes, and then walks into Vinnie's office. It was only for a split second, if I didn't know him so well I would have missed it.

Lula, Connie and I spend about 15 minutes catching up of 'Burg gossip, when Ranger walks out of Vinnie's office. He looks at me and says "Babe."

I take that as my cue to follow him. I stand up, grab the Salvatore file and follow Ranger out of the bonds office. The bonds office door doesn't even have time to shut before he grabs my hand and rushes me into the alley. Before my mind has a chance to process he places my back against the brick wall and kisses me senseless. I am into enjoying the lots of tongue and roaming hands that I am incapable of a coherent thought. And to top it all off now I need to go home to change my panties since he just ruined the ones I'm wearing.

"Good to know Babe." He stifles a laugh. "Anything you need to tell me?"

"Like what?" I know that somehow he found out about my stalker, but maybe if I act innocent he'll believe me.

"Get any unexpected gifts this morning?"

Yep, he knows. No way of getting around this now.

"When were you going to tell me?" Ranger asks as his blank face slams on.

"Ranger, it's no big deal. Whoever it is isn't very original. He is, by far, the least scariest stalker I have ever had. I don't even feel threatened. How did you find out?"

"Tank was conducting Woody's annual driving evaluation and he saw you carrying a trash bag with dead roses sticking out of it. After you pulled out of the parking lot, Tank and Woody decided to investigate."

"So they were being nosey." I countered.

"Babe, Tank found the note lying next to your trash can in your kitchen."

I usually throw a fit when the Merry Men break into my apartment, but lately it has become a weekly occurrence. I finally decided to just go with it since no matter how much I complain they keep doing it.

"Babe, I would like for you to stay with me on seven, at least to we decide if this guy is a real threat or not."

Stay on seven with Batman. While Ranger and 1000 thread count sheets are tempting, I don't think my Hungarian hormones could handle it. "I don't know, Ranger."

"Babe, please? If you don't want to stay on seven, Woody just got his own place and moved out of his apartment on four. You could stay there."

Crap, he knows I can't say no when he says please. "Fine," I agree.

""Let's go get Rex, get your things, and head back to Rangeman. While you're staying at Rangeman would you be interested in running some searches and background checks for me. Maybe stay on at least part time. I would prefer you to work full time, but I know that deep down you love chasing skips."

See, this is the reason I in love Ranger. He's not like Joe. Joe was always yelling at me to quit my job and marry him. Ranger lets me be me. "Yeah, you know how much I just love rolling in garbage and bring in naked skips." I say sarcastically. "Speaking of naked skips, I need to bring in Vincent Salvatore this afternoon. Would you mind taking my things over to Haywood and putting them on four?" For a brief second, Ranger looks disappointed when I told him to take my things to four. I must be mistaken, because he his blank face is back. I must have been seeing things.

"Salvatore? Need back up?" he asks.

"I don't think so. He's 85 years old and from the 'Burg. This should be a piece of cake. His granddaughter is Jenny, Joe's new girlfriend. Mr. Salvatore lives with Jenny's parents. They only live a few houses down from my parents. If it will make you feel better I'll take Lula with me. Happy?"

"That just makes me worry more." Ranger says.

"Get over it, Batman. Do you want to ride in separate cars to my apartment? Or you want to ride with me in Big Blue in you want." I already know the answer before I ask, but I like try to get his blank face to crack.

"Babe." Is the only answer I get as we began walking to his F-150 that is in typical Rangeman fashion: big, black, and expensive.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 2

Allie Jo's POV

"You cause one car to overheat and catch on fire and this town will never let you live it down! I've had it! I'm moving!" I yelled as I paced the living room of my rent house. My best friend was sitting on my couch eating the pizza we had ordered as I paced the floor ranting.

My name is Allison Josephine Harrison or Allie Jo as my friend and family call me. The double name is sort of a southern thing and I'm about as southern as you can get. I have uncontrollable dark curly hair and brown eyes. I am 5'6" but my preference for FMP's usually makes me about 5'9". I spend most of my time outdoors and learned to shoot a gun when I was five. I'm a really good shot and proud to say I can do it all in heels. I live in a small town called Atkins in Arkansas, where our claim to fame is an old factory that used to be a pickle plant.

"Calm down, Allie Jo." My best friend Mandi Rae (see there's that double name thing again) laughs. I'm glad someone thinks this is funny, because I sure don't. "Just where, pray tell, do you plan on going? And what would you do when you get there?"

"I don't know, but I have family all over the country. Surely I can figure out something out."

"Whatever happened to your cousin Woody? Isn't he out of the military now? Maybe you should go visit him. If you go stay with him, maybe I could come visit you. I wouldn't mind staring at him all day, especially is he's still as hot as he was that summer we stayed on your uncle's farm when we were teenagers. Is he still in Texas?"

"Woody never moved back to Texas. He moved to New Jersey. There's some big security firm he works for up there." Actually Mandi Rae has a good idea. New Jersey is a long way from Arkansas. Maybe Woody would let his favorite cousin come up for an extended visit. I may need to leave the 'extended' part out when I ask him.

"Where in New Jersey?" Mandi Rae asks.

"Trenton. I'll call him after our kickboxing class. If we don't leave now we'll be late." We grab our purses and keys and head to my Mandi Rae's truck since mine went to the heavenly car dealership in the sky. I missed that car, a 2009 Ford Mustang. It was the first car I had ever bought brand new and had just made my last payment the last month. If I can talk Woody into letting me come up for a visit, I'll wait to replace it.

When we got home from our kickboxing class, I decided that it was now or never if I was going to call Woody. This trip to New Jersey couldn't have come at a better time. My job was funded by a grant and due to budget cuts the grant wasn't funded this year. I hated to lose my job, but now seem like the perfect time to experience something new. Now I just have to work up the nerve to call my cousin. Grabbing my cell phone, I scroll down through the contacts until I find Woody's name. Here goes nothing, I think as I hit send.

On the second ring I hear a familiar voice say, "Yo."

"Yo? Since when do you answer the phone saying Yo?" I ask.

"Who is this?" demands Woody.

"Nice way to greet your favorite cousin."

"Sara Beth?" he chuckles.

"You did not just call me Sara Beth!" I yell into the phone. He may be my favorite cousin, but after the week I've had losing my job and destroying my car, it's just not funny.

"Cool your jets, Allie Jo. I know it's you." Woody was laughing so hard he could barely speak.

"That's not funny. You know exactly how I Sara Beth and I get along." Sara Beth's mother is my dad's and Woody's mom's sister. Sara Beth and I are both thirty and have always been hyper competitive. My mom likes to tell me that even taking our first steps was a competition for us. Woody is two years older that we are and to say that he got a kick out of encouraging our competitions.

"What's up? I don't have long before I have to go to work. I'm doing surveillance tonight."

"Well, since you have to work tonight, I'll get right to the point. I'm currently the laughing stock of Atkins and I need to get away for a while." I tell him.

"Laughing stock of Atkins, huh? What did you do?" He asks.

Maybe if I mumble he won't understand me and ask me again. "I caught my car on fire and it exploded."

"Do you want to repeat that?"

Crap. I knew he wouldn't let me get by with doing that. "I said I caught my car on fire and it exploded."

Woody gets real quiet and then bursts out laughing. "No wonder I like Bomber so much. Ya'll two are so much alike it's scary."

"Who's Bomber? Do you have a girlfriend that you're hiding from the family?" I accuse him.

I actually hear Woody shudder over the phone. "No way, Bomber is the Boss's woman. Only my boss, Ranger, or Bomber won't admit it. Besides she reminds me too much of you. She's more like a little sister."

"Well?" I ask. "Can I come to Trenton for a while?" Please don't say no.

"Why not? I just moved out of my one bedroom apartment at Haywood. I have a two bedroom apartment not far from work. But Allie Jo, if you decide to make this move permanent, you'll have to get your own place. When are you planning on coming?" he asks.

"Well that depends….When is your next day off?"

Woody laughs. "That quick? I'm off on Friday unless something comes up. You could fly into Newark on Friday. I can pick you up at the airport."

"That sounds great. Mandi Rae can take me to the airport. Since it's only Monday, I'll have plenty of time to pack and get my plane ticket." I may not want to mention that I plan on shipping my stuff to Trenton. I'll have Mandi Rae ship it after she drops me off at the airport. I have over three hundred pairs of shoes; he probably doesn't have room for all of those at his apartment. I hope I can narrow it down to only one hundred pairs.

"Allie Jo," Woody says interrupting my train of thought. "I've enjoyed catching up with you, but I have to get to work. I'll talk to you later this week." And with that Woody hung up the phone. Since when does Woody not say good bye on the phone? I guess while I'm in Trenton, I'll have to remind him that he was raised with manners.

Woody's POV

My baby cousin Allie Jo is coming for a visit. It's going to be nice having family close by for a while. I can't wait for Allie Jo to meet Bomber. They have so much in common it's not even funny. Come to think of it, they even look a lot alike, wild curly hair, about the same height. I really never took the time to understand why I always thought of Bomber as family. Most of the guys at Rangeman are a little bit in love with Bomber with the exception of Ranger who's completely in love with her.

I should see if Bomber will go with me to pick up Allie Jo. I'm not going tell them that they look so much alike. I can't see the look on their faces.

I climb into my SUV and head to Rangeman. I should ask Ranger is I can bring Allie Jo to tour the office. She would get a real kick out of that. She's been around law enforcement all of her life. Her dad, my uncle Jack, is retired ATF. I know she would pass all of Ranger's background checks.

After about a ten minute drive, I pull into the Rangeman underground garage. I take the stairs to the fifth floor to prepare for the five o'clock briefing before I head out to do surveillance.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 3

SPOV

Ranger and I arrive at my apartment building. While I would rather take the elevator, I know that Ranger will take the stairs. Determined not to look lazy, I start up the stairs. I don't think that Ranger was expecting me to do that, since I'm allergic to exercise. In the past, he has broken into my apartment to drag me out of bed to run with him. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the view of him leaving me behind. I actually think he knows that I enjoy watching him run. It's like dangling a carrot in front of a horse. It's just far enough I can't reach it, but close enough for me to try to reach for it.

I look over at Ranger to see him looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "I said that out loud again, didn't I?" I asked.

"Yeah Babe, you did. Do you want the carrot to lead?" His face is still serious, but when I look at his eyes, their filled with laughter. At least he thinks it's funny.

"Very funny, Batman" I reply.

Ranger smiles and says, "Whatever I can do to help." I return his comment with my best 'Burg eye roll.

By the time we reach the top of the stairs my spidey senses are going crazy.

"Ranger, something's not right."

"Spidey Senses?" he asks as he reaches for his gun.

"Yeah, they're going crazy right now."

"Babe, do you have your gun?"

"Of course not, Ranger. Why would I?"

Then Ranger does something I never would have suspected, he rolls his eyes. I smiled, "Proud of you Batman. That eye roll was worthy of a 'Burg girl."

Instead of coming back with a smart remark and shakes his head. Ranger hands me his gun while he reaches behind his back and pulls out another one. Knowing him there's probably at least two more hidden on his body as well as a number of knives. He also pulls out a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocks my door.

"Really? A key? Since when do you have a key to my apartment? Way to ruin the mystery. And to think that all this time I thought you had magic hands." There no sense in hiding the fact that he has a key that I didn't give him, to my apartment.

"I've had it since Julie was kidnapped. It's a lot less suspicious to use a key, instead of standing out here picking your lock."

Well, it's kind of hard to argue with that logic. Especially since I lay in bed every night hoping he'll decide to stop by.

"Stay here, Babe. I check the apartment; if it's clear I'll come get you." He says as he disappears into my apartment. He returns a few minutes later. "Babe, I want you to prepare yourself. I've already called Tank and Lester. Lester is calling the Trenton P.D. to meet us here."

"Oh my God, Is it Rex? Is he okay? I'm instantly go into panic mode.

"Rex is fine. Let's go in, but don't touch anything."

We walk into my apartment which looks like a tornado has destroyed. I only left to go to the bonds office a couple of hours ago. All of my furniture is flipped. Papers are everywhere. I look into my bedroom, my clothes are everywhere and the mattress is flipped. I walk back into the living room and notice that only one piece of furniture is untouched, my dining room table. On top of the table is a black vase with more dead roses. Sitting in front of the vase is an envelope with my name written on it. I reach for the envelope, but Ranger stops me.

"Don't touch that" he orders. It's a good thing I know that he would never hurt me, because if the anger in his face was directed at me right now I would probably pee my pants.

"Why?" I ask.

Ranger reaches into one of the pockets in his black cargo pants and pulls out a pair of rubber gloves. He puts them on and says "Let me open it just to be safe."

"Ranger, you can't be serious. It's just an envelope." I complain.

"Humor me."

"Fine," I said crossing my arms in a huff.

Ranger pulls out a picture and a note out of the envelope. He reads the note before showing it to me.

Roses are red, Violets are blue

If you throw away my flowers again

You'll be sorry, it's true.

Your actions were hateful,

And not at all grateful

Your punishment will be severe,

You can count on that my dear.

What is it with this guy's obsession with that old "Roses are Red" poem? I look at Ranger and he hands me a photo. It's a picture of the two of us outside the bonds office. I recognize that it was taken months ago when Joe and I were still together, back when Ranger was poaching. There was a big black "X" over Ranger's face. This guy is threatening Ranger now. This may actually be more serious that I thought.

I sat the picture and envelope back on the table and followed Ranger out of my apartment. As we walked into the hallway Tank and Lester were climbing the stairs to my floor with Big Dog and Carl, from Trenton P.D. following them.

"Beautiful, you really know how to attract the crazies." Lester joked as he gave me a hug and a kiss on my forehead. Ranger, who was standing behind me, growled at Lester.

Big Dog handed Carl some cash and said to me, "I thought for sure the next call we got about you would be another car blowing up, Steph."

Carl was putting the money in his wallet when he said, "She hasn't had a stalker in months. She was due."

"Laugh it up guys. I still haven't replace the car from the last explosion. I'm still driving my grandmother's Buick."

A voice comes from behind Big Dog saying, "Cupcake, when are you ever going to learn?" Crap why does he have to show up. As usual, Joe sounded aggravated, but at least he wasn't yelling and waving his arms around.

"Yeah Joe, because I spend all of my time searching Trenton trying to find people that will stalk me. Get real. And don't call me Cupcake." I grumble. I am so not in the mood to deal with him right now.

"I'd just hate for anything to happen to you Cup…. I mean Stephanie. Despite the fact that we're over and I've moved, I still want to be safe."

"I'm fine, Joe. Ranger has already asked me to move into Haywood."

"You're moving in with Manoso? How long do you think that will last?" Joe asks sarcastically.

"Morelli!" Ranger growls.

"I'm not moving in with Ranger. I'm moving into an empty apartment on four, not that it's any of your business. Just take my statement so I can go." Who does he think he's dealing with? I'm a Jersey girl, I can dish out more attitude than he could ever throw at me.

Joe took my statement, while Carl took Ranger's. When he was done he offered to go get Rex for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't take anything else with me since it was a crime scene. Ranger told Tank and Lester to stay and help the police process the scene. I just wanted to go to Haywood and forget today ever happened, well most of the day. I would like to remember when Ranger kissed me outside of the bonds office. A kiss like that is impossible for a girl to forget.

Joe came out of my apartment and handed me Rex and proceeds to tell me, "Go get some rest. You looked really tired and stressed."

"Gee, thanks." I turn to Ranger and ask "I'll come to Haywood after I pick up Mr. Salvatore."

"I'll send Ram and Cal to pick him up. The can drop the receipt off to Connie for you."

"You can't be serious. They give that poor old man a heart attack." I exclaim.

"Jenny's grandpa?" Joe asks. "Is this about the streaking incident?"

"Yeah, he's failure to appear. I need to bring him in."

"Don't worry about it. I'll have Jenny swing by and pick him up later and bring him to the station. Just tell Connie to expect my call so he can be rebonded. Will that work?" Joe offers.

"Thanks, Joe. That's really nice of you. I'll give Connie a call so she'll be expecting your call." I called Connie and she promised to have everything ready for when Joe called and said Good bye to the guys. On the way out of my apartment building, Ranger suggested that we drop the Buick off at my parents place and I could drive one of the Rangeman vehicles. He wanted me to drive something bullet proof and less noticeable. Driving that big Buick is like having a flashing 'Here's Stephanie' sign.

It was after 5 o'clock by the time we arrived at Rangeman. I had returned the Buick like we planned and luckily my mother had gone to the market so I didn't have to hear her whine 'Why does my daughter have to have stalkers. Mary Kellar's daughter Elizabeth doesn't have crazy men stalking her.'

Ranger took Rex's cage to carry it for me and we headed to the elevator. I had already climbed stairs once today and I was not going to do it again, once a day is my limit. I was about to push the call button for the elevator when the doors opened. Woody and Cal stepped out.

Cal picked me up and spun me around. "Bomber, I'm glad you're here. I need my good luck. We're going out to do surveillance." He sat me down and bent over so I could rub the tattoo on his forehead.

"You got it. I can't take a chance on you getting hurt." I laugh.

"You know it, Angel." Cal winked at me.

"Woody spoke up next. "Bomber, I have a favor to ask. My cousin is coming to visit and I was hoping that I could talk you into going with me to pick her up at the airport. She's flying into Newark on Friday. Ya'll have a lot in common and I would like for you to meet her.."

"I'd be happy to, Woody. Just let me know what time."

Woody turns to Ranger, "With your permission, sir, I would like to bring my cousin to tour the offices. She'd get a real kick out of Rangeman. She can pass all of the security and background checks. Her dad is retired ATF and occasionally helps out a friend of his with bounty hunting. She sometimes goes along on surveillance. She would love to see how we do things here in Trenton."

Ranger nodded. "As long as she can pass the background check, I have no problem with it. Just give her information to Hector. You or someone will need to stay with her the entire time she is here and don't let her go above the fifth floor."

"Yes sir" replies Woody. I gave each of them one more quick hug and they headed out for their surveillance shift.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 4

Allie Jo POV

Friday has finally arrived. Mandi Rae is taking me to the airport. I would like to fly directly to Newark, but unfortunately that wasn't possible. When I arrive at the airport in Little Rock, it takes me about two hours to get thru airport security. First I will fly to St. Louis, before I head on to Newark. Woody called me on Thursday to let me know that he will be bringing "Bomber" with him to pick me up. He sounded as excited as a five year old on Christmas morning.

Finally, I arrive in Newark. I grab my overnight bag from the overhead and exit the plane. It doesn't take me long to spot Woody. He's the only person in the entire airport dressed like a cowboy. He's wearing a cowboy shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. The only thing missing is his cowboy hat which he probably left in his SUV. Woody and I dress nothing alike. I'm wearing blue jean capri's with sparkly designs on the back pockets, a white scoop neck fitted t shirt and tall wedge sandals.

"Woody!" I yell as he picks me up and spins me around.

"Allie Jo," he says after he sits me down, "I want you to meet Stephanie Plum, or as we call her Bomber. Stephanie is Trenton's own Bombshell Bounty Hunter. Bomber, this is my cousin Allie Jo Harrison.

Wow! She's just a tiny bit taller than I am. If she had brown eyes instead of blue it would be like looking in the mirror.

"You can call me Stephanie or Steph. It's a pleasure to meet you. Woody's been telling me about some of the trouble the two of you got into as kids. Did you really drive a tractor into a pond?"

"It's nice to meet you too. You can call me Allie Jo. Yes, I did, but it wasn't my fault. Woody dared me to drive the tractor with my eyes closed. He was giving me directions. I was fourteen at the time. I don't recommend trying that stunt. We were lucky we didn't get hurt. My Gramps still hides the tractor keys whenever I visit." Stephanie laughs.

"Allie Jo, let's get your suitcase from baggage claim and head back to Trenton." Woody says as he directs us toward the baggage claim area.

"Sounds great" I say, "As long as we can hit a drive thru like McDonald's or maybe some fried chicken. Is there a KFC close by?"

"Stephanie chimes in, "Woody let's take Allie Jo by Cluck in the Bucket."

"Cluck in the Bucket? What's that?" I ask.

"That's New Jersey's answer to KFC." Woody informs me. "It's just as greasy as KFC. You'll love it. Although I don't know how the two of you eat that stuff."

"It's easy, Woody. I take a bite, chew it, and then swallow." I laugh.

Stephanie gives me a high five before we climb in the SUV. "I think that you and I are going to get along just fine."

"All it takes to make me happy is McDonald's, fried chicken, and donuts" I tell Steph.

Woody moans, "Ranger is going to kill me."

"Why?" we both ask.

"Because, between your food choices and the way trouble seems to follow you around, he'll be dragging me to the mats for the rest of my life. The two of ya'll together is like asking for trouble."

By the time we stop at Cluck in the Bucket for a snack, it was around 5:30. Steph asked Woody to drop her off at her parents' house for Friday night dinner. She made a comment about not being late for pot roast and pineapple upside down cake. Apparently, if you're later than 6 p.m., it means dinner is ruined and the world has come to an end. After we dropped Steph off Woody told me that he was taking me to Rangeman to meet the guys and show me where he works.

We pulled into a parking space in the underground garage and take an elevator to the fifth floor. When the elevator doors open, I am in awe. Woody has to give me a little nudge so that I will step off of the elevator. This place looks more like NASA with all of the computers in the room. Over to the left are two very hot muscled up guys that are watching monitors. Luckily they never looked our direction, because I may have drooled a little.

"I'll be right back." Woody tells me. "I'm going make sure Ranger and Tank knows we're here. Don't move from this spot. If you wonder around, I'll get in all kinds of trouble and they'll call me to the mats for a month."

"Okay" I agree, not really paying attention. I begin to fumble around in my purse looking for my lipstick and compact. I sure I look rough after being on the plane and I don't want to make a bad impression.

Next thing I hear is "Hey Beautiful" and feel two arms slide around me from behind. I automatically grab one of the arms, throw my butt back into the guy and use the momentum to throw him over my shoulder. I look down at the guy who is now lying on his back in front of me. He appears to be Latin, maybe Puerto Rican, and has gorgeous green eyes, and really hot. He looks up at me and says "What did you do that for? Wait! You're not Beautiful."

Great! First he thinks he can grab me and now he insults me. What this guy need is a swift kick to his manhood. I'm about to do just that, I hear Woody yell "Don't! He's one of my supervisors and a member of the core team."

"This jerk grabbed me and then insulted me. What do you expect me to do, just take it? You know I won't put up with that kind of behavior." I snapped at him.

The hot guy stands up, I notice Woody has two more hot guys with him. One appears to be Latin also and the other one is African American that the size of a tank. This place must only hire hot guys with bulging muscles.

The guy that I threw over my shoulder says "I didn't insult you."

"When you tell a woman that she's not beautiful, it counts as an insult in my book." This guy is really getting on my nerves. The two that were standing with Woody weren't helping because they looked like they were going to bust a gut trying to keep from laughing. I'm would really t like to punch someone, but all these guys are bigger than me so I wouldn't stand a chance.

"Sweetheart, this is all a misunderstanding. Can we try this again? My name is Lester Santos. I have a friend that looks a lot like you; my nickname for her is Beautiful. When I walked up behind you, I thought you were her."

"You mean Steph?" I ask.

"You've met Stephanie. Yes, that's her. I didn't intend to insult you. Trust me you're gorgeous." Lester smiles at me.

I can feel my cheeks turning red. The jerk, I mean Lester, is actually kind of sweet. Unfortunately, he has player written all over him.

"I'm so sorry Lester. All my life my dad trained me to defend myself when someone grabs me. Even though Woody told me this is the most secure building in Trenton, my instincts took over. I hope you can forgive me?"

Woody steps in and says "Allie Jo, let me introduce you to everyone. This is my boss, Ranger, and this is Tank." Well, his nickname certainly fits him. "Guys, this is my cousin Allie Jo."

I shake everyone's hand. I notice that when Lester shakes my hand he seems reluctant to let go.

"Sir," Woody addresses Ranger, "with your permission, I would like to give Allie Jo a tour of the facilities."

"Permission granted" Ranger replied. I guess once you leave the military, you don't necessarily leave the military. "Why don't you start with the gun range?"

"Oh my God! You have a gun range. Can I use it? Woody, give me your gun!" I demand.

Lester, Tank, and Ranger looked shocked. However, Woody looks amused. Woody looks at Ranger, I guess waiting for permission for me to use the gun range.

"I don't have a problem with it as long as one of my employees is with you at all times." Ranger says.

"Yippee! I haven't shot a gun is over a week. Do you have crossbows?" Now I know that I get too excited when it comes to target practice, but in all fairness, I get equally excited about shoe shopping.

"We don't have any archery equipment." Tank says.

"That's okay. I had my best friend ship my archery equipment, using FedEx, after my flight left this morning. It should be here in a couple of days," I tell them.

"You mailed your archery equipment to Trenton?" Woody asks.

"You know I don't go anywhere for over a week without taking my bows." I replied.

"You never change." Woody laughs, "Let's go to the gun range to show these guys your skills."

SPOV

"Thanks for the ride, Daddy." As much as I tried to avoid telling my parents and Grandma Mazur about my stalker, it was no use. The 'Burg grapevine has my parents phone ringing off the hook all afternoon telling my mother that the police were at my apartment all afternoon. Grandma Mazur kept saying how wonderful it is that I live such an exciting life. The only time my dad spoke was to tell someone to pass the potatoes. As soon as dessert was over I asked my dad for a ride since he was dropping Grandma off at Stiva's for a viewing.

When I got to the fifth floor, Hal was on the monitors with Hector. I asked Hal if Woody and his cousin Allie Jo were still here.

"Is that who that girl is? At first I thought it was you until she got all excited about going to the gun range." Hal tells me.

I laugh, "She's definitely not me. Ranger has to force me to practice. Why are Ranger, Tank, and Lester down there?"

"There watching her shoot. From the looks of it, she's pretty impressive." Hal says.

I look at the monitor. Ranger and Tank look impressed, not that you would know it if you didn't know them well. Woody looks proud. But Lester, I had to do a double take, because Lester looked like he was in love. I've never seen him look at a girl like he's looking at Allie Jo.

"I'll see you later, Hal. I'm going down to the gun range to let Ranger know I'm back and say hi to Allie Jo." I get in the elevator and ride down to the gun range. Before entering, I pick up protective gear for my eyes and ears. When I walk in, Woody is pushing the button to bring the target in.

Every9one removed their protective gear and Lester immediately begins talking. "Sweetheart, that was amazing. Impressive doesn't come close to describing it."

Woody unclipped the target and showed it to me. Every shot was directly in the center of the head. Wow!

"It's no big deal. Daddy started teaching me to shoot when I was five." Allie Jo says.

"Babe, ask Allie Jo what she did to Lester." Ranger says with his almost smile in place.

"Okay," I say slowly, "What happened to Lester?"

Allie Jo shrugs and says "He grabbed me, so I threw him over my shoulder. Then he insulted me, but Woody stopped me before I kicked him in his manhood."

"You what?" I said laughing.

"It was all a misunderstanding." Lester says. "I thought she was you. Then I told her she's not Beautiful, meaning you, but she thought I was insulting her. No harm, no foul."

"Bomber, you need to have Hal pull it up on the monitors." Tank says. "She tossed him like a rag doll."

I couldn't help it, I began laughing uncontrollably. The thought of someone my size throwing Lester like a rag doll was hilarious, not to mention impressive.

"Woody let's head back to your place, so I can unpack. Ranger, can I come back and use the gun range tomorrow?" asks Allie Jo.

"You've passed the security clearance and know your way around firearms. You're welcome here anytime." He answers.

"Thanks." Allie smiles.

We all say our goodbyes and Lester adds that he's really looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. Seem to me Lester may have a little crush. I may need to talk to Allie Jo to see if you might be interested in him. She would definitely keep him on his toes.

LPOV

I can't believe how amazing Woody's cousin is. Not only is she gorgeous but she has that sexy southern accent when she speaks. I know a lot of the guys here at Rangeman think I have feelings for Stephanie, but I don't. I just like to bait Ranger since he's my cousin. When Allie Jo asked to come back tomorrow, I actually felt my heart skip a beat with excitement. I just hope I get some sleep tomorrow, 5 a.m. comes early in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 5

Stalker's POV

Manoso has kept her in his building for almost a week now. So far I haven't been able to leave my latest gift for Stephanie. Manoso has made my life hell for years now. He constantly dragged me to the mats for one thing or another. Then he up and fired me. Well, at least I know his weakness, her. He doesn't deserve her like I do. And if I can't have her, no one will. I thought I would get an opportunity to take her yesterday when she left Rangeman with that cowboy. I lost them at a stop light. I drove around for hours trying to find her.

The bonds office is open until noon on Saturdays. Maybe I should leave my gift for Stephanie there. Even if Stephanie doesn't stop by, those two loud mouth women will call her to pick up her gift. When I get her to fall in love with me, it will destroy him. If she refuses to love me, then I will kill her. Making Manoso suffer is so much better than killing him. Don't get me wrong, I will kill him, but not before he suffers the loss of his "Babe."

RPOV

I climb out of bed as usual at 0430 hours and head down to the gym. I didn't sleep well knowing that my Babe was sleeping on four. I would rather she be on seven with me, but I don't want to push her. While my life doesn't lend itself to relationships, I finally realized that we are already in one. This entire time we have both been in denial about it. I have decided to tell her how I feel about her. I want her to know that I love her and want to plan a life with her. But first I need to catch her stalker. Whoever it is seems to be after me as well. I can't risk acknowledging a relationship with her if it could put her in more danger. That's assuming she even wants a relationship with me.

By the time I make it down to the gym it's almost 0500 hours. What I see surprises me. Woody brought his cousin with him to use the gym. Woody is holding a punching bag and Allie Jo is currently beating the crap out of it. Maybe, with her around, it will encourage my Babe to become serious about self defense and fitness.

Allie Jo POV

It's taking every bit of self control I have to punch and kick this bag instead of just standing here drooling while watching all these hot, sweaty men do their morning workout. When Woody and I arrived at the Rangeman gym there was only one other guy there. Woody introduced him as Binkie. He's hot and I'm pretty sure I could bounce quarters off of his butt, but what kind of name is Binkie? As we stretched and warmed up as others came in. By the time I started my workout my brain went into overload looking at all of the eye candy. There were hot guys everywhere. Some of them had taken off their shirts, which made it even harder to concentrate. I really need to rethink this no putting makeup on before I go to the gym rule.

Every once in a while Woody would stop me long enough to introduce me to one of his coworkers. In addition to Binkie, I met a man named Cal with a flaming skull tattoo and another guy named Junior. I finally decided to practice some kick boxing hoping I could focus on the punching bag instead of continue to drool at the buffet of men that were set out before me. I was so focused on my workout that Woody didn't introduce me to any more of the guys.

Finally I decided to begin my cool down with a steady jog. I had just climbed on the treadmill when someone hopped onto the one next to me and starts his warm up run.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." He grins.

I glance over "Morning, Lester." He has to be the hottest guy here.

"I didn't expect to see you this early in the morning." He says.

"My best friend and I always get up this early to run. We usually run on some of the old country dirt roads unless the weather is bad. If the weather is bad we go to the gym. It's the best time to get our girl talk in."

"I would be happy to join you for some girl talk while we run." Lester waggles his eyebrows. "You actually run before sunrise on dirt roads? Don't you live out in the country? Aren't you afraid of wild animals?"

I actually have a shoulder holster I for my pistol. I usually wear it when we run outdoors, especially if bobcats or bears have been spotted in the area. Usually the animals are more scared of you than you are of them, so they leave you alone. I've only had to shoot once and that was up in the air to scare a bobcat that was a little too curious off. When you're a daughter of a retired ATF agent people aren't surprised to see you running with a gun strapped on. I'm also permitted to carry concealed."

"You're just full of surprises." Lester says, at this point his pace has far surpassed my steady jog.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, you look at lot like Beautiful. You even carry very similar personality traits, but you're into fitness and you're trained in self defense and firearms."

"I can also pick locks, and get out of handcuffs. Daddy thought it would be safer for me if I could those things, given his chosen profession. He made a number of enemies with drug runners. And I wouldn't say that I'm into fitness. I have to work out like this so I can eat pretty much how I want. It's by necessity, not by choice." We spend the rest of our time on the treadmill in silence. Finally, I slow mine down and get off. Lester does the same.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" He asks.

"Sure."

"Do you have plans for tonight?"

"Nothing that's set in stone. Why?"

Lester pauses and takes a big breath, like he's working up the nerve to ask me something. "Would you like to go to dinner with me?"

"No." I answer. I try not to giggle when a shocked expression registers across his face. He is most definitely a player, because it's obvious that he is not used to women turning him down.

"Wh…Why not?" He stammers.

"A southern lady requires at least three days notice before a date." This is completely not true, but to be completely honest, asking a woman out with around 12 hours notice is pushing it a little. If Lester decides to ask again I'll probably say yes.

"See you later Lester." I say as I turn around and walk out of the gym, leaving Lester standing there with his mouth hanging open in shock.

It's a little just after 7 o'clock when I leave the gym. Woody left the gym a half hour ago to hit the showers and get ready for work. He had told me earlier that he was on monitor duty today, so I head up for five to find him. When I find him, he's staring intently at the monitors, I'm not sure if he even notices me.

"Woody, is there somewhere I could shower before I go looking for a temporary job. I brought my stuff with me, or do I need to drive back over to your apartment?" I ask.

"The only showers are the ones in the guy's locker room. You could try to my old apartment that Bomber's using. You better stop by the break room and take coffee. Bomber is not a morning person. It's apartment 4C." He tells me with his eyes never leaving the monitors.

"Thanks." I stop by the break room and make 2 cups of coffee and grab a couple of creamer packets to take with me. I look around for sugar packets, but can't find any. There are none of the fake sugar packets either. Then I head to the elevator and ride down to four.

SPOV

I awake to a loud knocking on my door. Who would be knocking on my door a seven freaking twenty in the morning? The Merry Men know that I am not a morning person and Ranger would let himself in without bothering to knock.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I grumble. "This better be important and you better have coffee." I open the door and see Allie Jo standing holding two cups of coffee with a duffle bag hanging off of her shoulder.

"Sorry, Steph." Allie Jo says. "I hate to wake you, but I just finished in the gym and I was wondering if I could use you shower. I need to go look for a job today."

"Sure, but for waking me up, you're buying me breakfast."

"Sounds fair." laughs Allie Jo.

"What were you doing at the gym this morning?"

"I do a little of everything, mostly kickboxing and running. I have to work those donuts off somehow. It was hard for me to concentrate this morning with so many hot guys working out down there. I spent half my time trying not to drool."

I motion for Allie Jo to follow me to the kitchen so we can sit and drink our coffee. "Speaking of hot guys, was Lester down there?"

Allie Jo blushes. That's a good sign.

"Yes, Why?" she asks.

"Oh, I don't know, but he seems to be really interested in you. I know it's none of my business, but would you be interested in him?" I'm trying my best to sound nonchalant.

Allie Jo smiles, "Actually, he asked me to dinner this morning, but I turned him down."

"You turned him down? Why?" I ask.

"Well, to be truthful, he seems like a player to me, and I've been hurt before. I wanted to see just how interested in me he really is. I guess it was kind of childish, uh?" She stares at her coffee for a moment before she continues. "I fed him some made up line about southern ladies require at least three days notice before accepting a date. I have to admit, I enjoyed watching him squirm."

"So you are interested in Lester?"

"I'd have to crazy not to be. Despite the fact that we got off on the wrong foot, he seems really sweet. But I've dated players before and I don't want to get my heart broken again."

"I know exactly how you feel. I can't believe I'm admitting this to someone I only met yesterday, but I've been in love with Ranger for years. I'm too afraid to tell him because I'm afraid to get my heart broken. And as far as Lester goes, I'm not going to lie to you. In the past he's been a player, but I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. If you don't give him a chance, you may miss out on something great. I actually think you did the right thing turning him down. Lester likes a challenge. "

LPOV

She said no. I've never has a girl turn me down for a date before. Some excuse about not accepting date less than three days in advance. I've never heard of that. I would really like to get to know her better. I'm usually a love them and leave them kind of guy. But Allie Jo is different. There's just something about her. I have to get to know her. I need to talk to Woody. Maybe he can help me with his cousin.

I head to my office. On my way I run into Cal and ask him to cover monitor duty for a while and send Woody to my office. I'm just getting settled into my office when Woody knocks on my door.

"Sir, you needed to see me?"

"Yes," I answer. "Have a seat."

Woody sits in the chair across from my desk and I ask, "Can you tell me about Allie Jo.?"

"Sir, she passed the background check and Ranger says she is welcome here anytime. Is there a problem?" I can see concern across Woody's face. Maybe I didn't approach this the right way.

"No, nothing like that." I tell him. "I know this is probably inappropriate, but….Is she seeing anyone?" Crap this might not be the best way to go about this either.

Woody looks surprised. "Lester, Allie Jo is like a sister to me. She's been hurt a time or two. I would prefer it not happen again."

"I have no intention of hurting her. I would really like to get to know her better. There's something special about her."

"I can tell that you like her. You look at Allie Jo the way Ranger looks at Bomber. I'll put in a good word for you, if you promise not to hurt her."

"Thanks Woody. But I'd like to know more about her. What she likes, what she doesn't like."

Woody thinks for a minute. "Allie likes flowers, but not roses. She prefers tiger lilies and calla lilies. If you were in line at the grocery store and brought her a candy bar, it would mean more to her than if you brought her jewelry or an expensive dinner. Will that help?"

"I appreciated it. Dismissed."

Woody stands up and begins to walk out of my office. When he reaches the door, he stops and turns around. "By the way, her favorite candy bar is a Crunch bar." Then he turns around to leave.

If I'm going to get Allie Jo to give me a chance, I better get ready to sweep her off her feet.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 6

SPOV

I asked Allie Jo if she wanted to go with me to the bonds office. Today my babysitter, I mean bodyguard, is Cal. One of the first times he was assigned to "Bombshell Bodyguard Duty" my sister, Valerie's water broke and he passed out cold. We stop by the Tasty Pastry to pick up five coffees, two dozen Boston Cremes and a dozen glazed with rainbow sprinkles. Even though Cal would never admit it, he loves the glazed with sprinkles. He probably thinks it would ruin his image. As soon as we get back into the SUV to head to the bonds office Connie calls.

"Steph, its Connie. I just got to the office and there's a package addressed to you sitting outside the door. Do you want me to bring it in or leave it there?" she asks.

"We're only a couple of blocks away. I'll bring it in when we get there."

"Sure thing. See you in a few." Connie says as she hangs up.

Five minutes later we pull up in front of the bonds office. I carry the coffees, Allie Jo carries the donuts, and Cal picks up the package as we go into the office. I immediately introduce Connie to Allie Jo, and they immediately begin comparing Allie Jo's southern accent to Connie's Jersey accent.

I begin to open the package when Cal stops me. "Bombshell, you better let me open that."

"It's okay, I got it."

"I really think you should let me open it." Cal argues.

I can see that I'm not going to win this argument. "I'll make you a deal. I'll open the note. If the package is from my stalker, we'll wait for Ranger to get here to open it. Deal?"

Cal nods in agreement. I open the envelope, pull out the note and read:

Roses are red, Violets are blue

Don't you forget that I'm coming for you.

XO,

Valentine

"Cal, does the name Valentine mean anything to you?" I ask.

Cal doesn't answer me. Instead, he pulls out his cell phone and makes a call. "Ranger, we have a problem."

RPOV

As soon as I hang up the phone, I crush it in my hand. I pick up my office phone and dial Manny's extension, telling him to bring a new one to my office immediately. I storm out of my office yelling, "Tank, let's go now!" Tank hurries up catch up with me as I walk past the elevator to take the stairs. Manny is waiting next to one of the Rangeman SUVs with my new phone. As I climb into the SUV, I yell, "Manny, pull up everything you can find on Mike Valentine."

Tanks never says a word, as we drive to the bonds office. He giving me an opportunity to slip into my zone, as Babe calls it. If I can't get myself under control I may tear apart the bonds office.

SPOV

It's a fifteen minute drive from Haywood to the bonds office, Ranger made it in seven. I know, I timed him.

I am not a patient person, but I was willing to wait for Ranger to open the box. This guy was starting to scare me a little, okay, a lot. Cal had listen for ticking, but said that it didn't necessarily mean anything with today's technology. Cal carried the package outside. I didn't want him to take it outside, but he refused to let Connie, Allie Jo, and me out in the open. Cal said that his gut told him that it wasn't a bomb, but to wait for Ranger just in case.

When Ranger and Tank arrive they walk over to Cal who is still outside with the package. They all pull on gloves and Ranger pulls a knife out of his boot and opens the package. Then he picks up the box and brings it in and sits it on Connie's desk.

When they come back inside, Tank is on the phone telling someone at Rangeman to send Hal to process the package for evidence. While Tank is on the phone, Allie Jo and I walk over to Connie's desk to look in the package. Inside was a teddy bear with the eyes cut out and a big knife in its chest. This guy may be sicker than I thought.

"Babe, you and Allie Jo need to go straight back to Haywood. Do not stop anywhere." Ranger orders me. I do not take orders well.

"No, I'm going after skips today." I argue.

Connie interrupts, "No, you're not. I don't have any low or medium bond FTAs. I only have three high bonds that all go to Rangeman."

"Cal," Ranger orders, "take them back to Rangeman. I'll stay here until were done processing the scene. When I get back I want to have a meeting with the core team to discuss this stalker."

Cal, Allie Jo, and I head back to Cal's SUV. Once Cal starts driving I ask, "Cal, could you take us by my apartment. I need to check my mail and get some more clothes." Joe had called me Friday morning and said I could go back to my apartment. Even though I could go back to staying at my apartment, I planned on staying at Rangeman until the stalker was caught. Hey, I'm stubborn, not stupid.

"Ranger gave me orders to take you back to Rangeman." Cal argued.

"Cal, you can either take me now or I'll sneak off later. The guys still harass Hal about the time I stunned him to escape." I warned.

"Fine, but straight in and straight out." He finally gives in.

"Of course." I agree.

"Wait a minute," Allie Jo says, "You stunned one of the Rangemen? That's hilarious."

Once we were inside my apartment Cal waits in the living room while Allie Jo helps me pack more clothes. While we're packing she asks, "Do you ever use the gym at Rangeman?"

"Only when Ranger makes me. Why?"

"I usually run with my best friend back home. I was hoping I could talk you into running with me in the morning. Maybe if you're in there to talk to while I'm running I won't get distracted by all of the muscle in there."

"Sure, I'll grab some workout clothes and running shoes. It might make it more fun to run with another girl. Lula and I tried running with Ranger once. I don't think she made it more than a few blocks. Just don't expect me to get up at five in the morning."

When we finished packing, Cal took us back to Rangeman. Luckily, we beat Ranger and Tank back from the bonds office, so they won't find out unless someone rats us out.

Allie Jo POV

Cal, Steph, and I take the elevator up to five. When the elevator doors open there was a ridiculously large, but beautiful, flower arrangement of orange tiger lilies and white calla lilies. Sitting next to the arrangement has a huge box of Nestle Crunch Bars, and a card address to me. I looked over a Steph in shock.

"That's a heck of a lot better than the dead roses that I've been getting lately. Someone must really like you to bring contraband into Rangeman. Save me a candy bar" as she a Cal head to the breakroom.

I pick up the card, open it, and read:

Allie Jo,

Your presence is requested for an evening of dining and dancing, this Tuesday evening. Be ready at eight.

Lester

No one has ever gone to so much trouble to ask me out. I was standing there so fixated on the card that I didn't hear anyone walk up. I jumped when I hear "I believe that Tuesday is the three days you require for me to ask you out on a proper date."

I nod since this is one of the only times in my life that I was truly speechless.

"Well, will you go to dinner with me Tuesday night?" He asks.

"You did all of this for me? We were only gone a few hours."

"I was motivated. I want to show you that I am serious about wanting to get to know you better."

I smile at him, "How did you know about my kind favorite candy bars?"

"A little cowboy told me." He waggles his eyebrows and I laughed. "So is that a yes?"

I look Lester in the eye (Man, those green eyes are gorgeous) and say, "I'll see you Tuesday at eight."

"Come on, Sweetheart. Ranger wants all of us in the conference room for a meeting. The flowers will be fine until after the meeting, but you better take the candy bars and hide them in Stephanie's desk before the guys around here see them. Ranger is very anti sugar. I had to hide the candy bars in my office until Woody saw you get out of the SUV on the monitors. Lester takes me by the hand and escorts me to the conference room.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 7

RPOV

When Tank and I arrive back at Rangeman, the core team along with Babe, Allie Jo, Woody, Cal, and Manny are in the main conference room. As soon as I walk thru the door I waste no time yelling, "Report!"

Manny stands up and turns on the overhead projector that was connected to his laptop and begins. "This is Mike Valentine." Manny brings up a picture of a man and continues, "Valentine has blonde hair and blue eyes. According to his driver's license he currently weighs 210pounds. He is a former Marine that has seen combat. He also excels in hand to hand combat. Valentine is a former employee of Rangeman – Trenton."

"Wait a minute Manny," Babe interrupts. "Why don't I remember him?"

"Because he started at Rangeman around the time we met, and only worked here for about three months." I answer. I nod for Manny to continue.

"Wifey, Valentine was fired for inappropriate conduct with a female skip which was discovered during a routine audio spot check." Manny explains.

Allie Jo speaks up, "What kind of inappropriate conduct?"

"It means", Lester says, "that he offered to let a female skip go free if she would sleep with him. It never went beyond that because we were conducting random spot check on the live audio feed in the SUVs. We record most of the audio in the Rangeman vehicles. Only the core team has access to the codes that will turn the audio record off in the vehicles. We randomly check it from time to time on live feed. It's not something that we do very often. Usually, we only listen to about sixty seconds of the feed, unless we hear something that sends up a red flag. Rangeman just happened to check that live feed in the SUV that Valentine was driving that night."

Bobby adds, "It was pure coincidence that Valentine's vehicle was check at the same time he propositioned the skip. Cal and Junior were in the area, so they drove over told Valentine that he was needed at Rangeman and that they would take the skip to the police station."

"When he arrived back at Rangeman, I immediately called him to the mats for his behavior. By the time I was finished with him on the mats, Lester and Bobby had found 2 more recordings of Valentine propositioning female skips, both chose jail. The skip that we found on the random live feed had just agreed when Cal and Junior drove up. He was fired and turned him over to the police, but unfortunately only got probation." I explain.

"Why was he allowed to pick up female skips alone?" Babe asks.

Tanks answers, "He wasn't supposed to. In each of these cases he was supposed to have a contract worker with him. Apparently Valentine would offer to go catch the easier female skips and drop the contract worker off at his girlfriend's house. Afterwards he would pick the contract worker up to take the skip. We checked all of the recordings on the dates that he logged into the vehicles. There were no additional cases. The contract worker was also called to the mats and fired."

Manny continued his presentation, "As a standard operating procedure, we causally monitor all employees that are fired to make sure that they are not a threat to Rangeman. Once his probation was over, Valentine moved to Illinois. He has a sister that moved there with her husband a few years ago. We do believe an agenda against Rangeman, in particular, Ranger. Valentine has been off of our radar for approximately two years. We also believe he's been watching Stephanie for around six months. He was here for a few months; he knows protocol for protecting Stephanie. He also knows that Stephanie is important to Rangeman, especially to you, Ranger."

"Why did he sign his name now, knowing that you would know exactly who he is?" Babe asks.

Manny replies, "We believe Ranger moving you into Rangeman may have forced him to speed up his timeline to make a kidnapping attempt."

SPOV

"Until further notice, Stephanie is on lockdown." Ranger orders.

"Lockdown!" I yell, "Not going to happen."

"Stephanie," Great, now he's using my entire name, "until we capture this guy, I'm not taking any chances that you could get hurt. He's a former Marine, and he's deadly."

"I'm still not going on lockdown." I attempt to stare Ranger down, but I don't do a very good job at it.

"I may have a solution that everyone can live with." Allie Jo speaks up. Everyone turns and looks at her. "I took some drama classes in high school. I was always in charge of make-up and hair, as well as wardrobe. We could disguise Stephanie. A wig, change her make-up, color contacts, we can even change her bust size. Give me a couple of hours, Ranger and even you won't recognize her."

"He'll know something is up if she disappears all together." Bobby points out.

"If you would let me finish, I can pose as Stephanie. All I need is some blue contacts. We already have the same hair and are the same size. I've even already fooled Lester, by accident. Just imagine who I could trick if I put some effort into it."

"No way, not going to happen. Uncle Jack would kill me." Woody says.

"I agree with Woody." Lester adds. "There is absolutely no point in putting both of you in danger."

Allie Jo POV

Now I'm mad. I stand up and lean with my hands flat on the table. "I can and will do this. I've known Stephanie for less than twenty four hours and I know that I have made a friend for life. And as for you Woody," I say pointing to him, "you know my dad would completely understand my decision to do this. He might not like it, but he would understand. I can defend myself if necessary."

"I agree." Ranger says. At least I have one person on my side.

"You can't be serious!" Lester exclaims.

"Santos, I watched Allie Jo kick box this morning. She maybe small but she could probably beat the crap out of you and you're one of the best hand to hand combats here. Allie Jo has also proven that she is skilled with firearms. This way Stephanie still has a little freedom and they will both be protected." Ranger says, and then turns to me. "Make no mistake; you will have your own bodyguard. Valentine knows that standard operation procedure when Babe has a stalker."

Then Ranger turns to Stephanie, "You will also have a bodyguard of your own. If either of you at any time ditch your bodyguards, I will put you both on lockdown. Do you agree to these terms?"

"Agreed." We answer.

Ranger continues, "Allie Jo, the only way I can let you do this is if you are a full time employee. I will pay you salary with benefits."

I laugh. "That sounds great, Ranger. Now I won't have to look for a job."

"Give Ella a list of supplies you need to transform Stephanie and yourself." Ranger says. As he walks out the door he yells "Dismissed."

Tank looks at me and asks, 'Any questions?"

"Just one, who's Ella?" I ask.

Stephanie puts her arm thru mine and says, "I'll introduce you to Ella. You're going to love her."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

A/N: I really appreciate all of the reviews. This website has given me an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream. Growing up I always dream of becoming a writer. I was always writing short stories for my English teachers to critique, but unfortunately life got in the way. Once again thank you for all of the comments. They mean the world to me.

Chapter 8

SPOV

I couldn't believe the transformation. Allie Jo made a list for Ella that was at least a mile long. She even thought of a wig cap, I would have never thought of that. When Allie Jo finished my makeover, I went to look in the mirror. I didn't recognize the person looking back at me. My curls we contained under a wig cap with a jet black chin length page boy style wig. Allie Jo asked Ella to pick up all of the necessary equipment for a spray tan. Ranger had told Ella to spare no expense. Allie Jo worked in a tanning salon in college that specialized in airbrush spray tanning. Ella purchased bra inserts that looked kind of like chicken cutlets and some new bras that were a cup size bigger than what I usually wear. We completed my look with green color contacts. Looking in the mirror, I could now pass for Lester's sister.

During my transformation, I helped Allie Jo develop a New Jersey accent. All of her drama classes from high school came in handy. It only took her a little over an hour for her to master it. If I didn't know better I would have thought she was born and raised in New Jersey. Allie Jo southern drawl only came back if she wasn't paying close attention to what she was saying. She even mastered the 'Burg eye roll.

"Steph, I think we should test out your new look. What do you say that we go out to dinner somewhere? Maybe we can have Ranger, Lester, and Woody meet us. We need to go to someplace that people would know you to make sure your completely unrecognizable. I can also put in my blue contacts and practice my Jersey accent." She suggests.

"Won't they recognize me if we're together?" I ask.

"If you sit at another table or maybe a bar we can test the guys to see you they can pick you out of the crowd." Allie Jo says.

"I love it! Let's do it." I was really excited about testing out my new look. I not one hundred percent sure I can pull this off, but I can't wait to try. "We need to come up with a new name for everyone to call me. I can't answer to Stephanie in public."

"Any ideas of what you would like to be called?"

"Well. I think I could pass for Lester's sister now, so I should use Santos as a last name. Ranger often gives him "Bombshell" duty when I need a bodyguard. If I use Santos as a last name, it would be easier to explain why we're together often." I tell her.

"What about a first name?" she asks.

I think about for a moment and the perfect idea comes to me. "I can use Rosa as a first name. That is the name of Ranger and Lester's abuela. It will be easy to remember."

"I love it. So Rosa, is there someone at Rangeman that create fake identification? And can we swear them to secrecy until we test out your new look?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. His name is Hector, but he speaks Spanish. His English is very limited. You don't happen to speak Spanish, do you?" Ella had left after dropping of the supplies. She had to prepare dinner for the break room.

"As a matter, I'm fluent in Spanish." She smiles.

I walk over to the phone in the apartment and dialed Hector's extension. He answers on the second ring. "Hola."

"Hola, Hector. It's Stephanie."

"Hola, Stephanie." He greets me.

"Hold on, there's someone I would like you to speak with." I hope he understood me and doesn't hang up. My Spanish is limited to taco, burrito, and enchilada. I hand the phone to Allie Jo.

Allie Jo POV

I greet Hector. "Hola, nombre es Allie Jo. Soy primo de Woody. Tengo un favor para pedir en nombre de Stephanie." **(Hello, Hector. My name is Allie Jo. I'm Woody's cousin. I have a favor to ask on behalf of Stephanie.)**

"Para Stephanie, podría hacer nada. ¿Qué necesita?" he tells me. **(For Stephanie, I would do anything. What do you need?)**

"Hemos creado un nuevo look para Stephanie para que ella no reconocida si ella sale en público. Necesitamos nueva identificación con fotografía con un nombre supuesto. Pero es realmente importante que nadie sabe que están haciendo estos. Queremos probar la nueva apariencia de su jefe para ver si la puede reconocer en público." I tell him. **(We have created a new look for Stephanie so that she won't be recognized if she goes out in public. We need new photo identification with an assumed name on it. But it's really important that no one knows that you are making these. We want to test the new look on your boss to see if he can recognize her in public.)**

"Todo lo que necesito es una nueva imagen de Stephanie y puedo tener nueva identificación dentro de una hora." Hector assures me. **(All I need is a new picture of Stephanie and I can have new identification within an hour.)**

"Es gran Hector. Estamos en el piso viejo de mi primo." **(That's great Hector. We're in my cousin's old apartment.)**

"Voy a estar bien arriba." **(I'll be right up.)** He says and hangs up. Does anyone say good bye around here?

Stephanie had called Ella earlier to come see her disguise. Ella was amazed at how much Stephanie resembled her niece, Carmen, who is Lester's real sister. When Hector brought the finished i.d. back up to the apartment, I was impressed. There was no way to tell it wasn't real. Once I put my blue contacts in, Stephanie and I were ready to go. Hector went to distract the guys watching the monitors and Ella helped us sneak out of the building and gave us a ride to a place called Pino's. Stephanie has guaranteed me that I will fall in love with their meatball subs.

When Ella drops us off at Pino's it's around 5:30. Before we go in, Steph call Ranger to ask him, Lester, and Woody to meet us at the restaurant for dinner. To further confuse the guys I had put on the clothes that Steph was wearing earlier and she was wearing one of the new outfits that Ella had purchased.

When we walk into Pino's, I am immediately swept up into a hug. I look at Stephanie for help and she mouths 'my cousin, Eddie'. I quickly nod and try out my Jersey accent. "Hi Eddie"

"Hi Stephanie." Eddie says. "I'm surprised that Ranger let you out of the Rangeman building with a stalker on the loose."

"He's on the way to meet us here for dinner. His cousin, Rosa, just called and asked him and her brother Lester to meet us here. Rosa, this is my cousin, Eddie. Eddie this is Rosa."

"It's nice to meet you." Eddie shakes Steph's hand. Stephanie and I decided earlier that she should just smile and nod if we ran into anyone that she knew. We were afraid if she talks it would blow her cover.

Eddie turns to me. "It's good to see you. I'd stay and hang out, but I need to get these pizzas home to Shirley and the kids." He says good bye and head out the door. Stephanie and I make our way to the table at the very back at the restaurant.

As soon as we reach the table, start laughing. "He has absolutely no idea that you weren't me." When we get our laughter under control, she adds "You stay here. Keep you back to the wall and watch the front door for the guys. I'm going to sit up at the bar and order a Coke. I can't wait to see how long it takes them to notice me. She's grinning ear to ear as she walks away.

At 6 p.m. on the dot the guys walk in. Ranger, Lester, and Woody spot me immediately and Ranger does not look happy. "Babe, you're not supposed to leave Rangeman unless you're in disguise." He whispers angrily.

"Bomber, where's Allie Jo?" Woody asks.

I drop my fake Jersey accent long enough to say, "I'm right here." Switching my Jersey accent on I look at Ranger and add, "She's here too. Can't you spot her?"

Lester, Wood, and Ranger turn around to survey the room. They make three wrong guesses and it's all I can do to keep from laughing. Steph had told me earlier that it is impossible to fool Ranger. I guess Steph and I just accomplished the impossible.

Ranger turns to me and says "I know that she's here. I can feel her. I should me mad, but you obviously did a great job. Even I can't find her."

He turns back around to survey the room again, as Steph walks up to him. She reaches up and gives him a hug saying "Hello, cousin."

"Cousin?" Ranger looks at Lester.

Stephanie then turns to Lester and asks "How's my favorite big brother?" A look of understanding crosses their faces as she sits down at our table.

When everyone sits down the waitress walks over to our table to take out drink order. As she walks away her eyes linger on the guys and she walks directly into a column. Stephanie leans over and whispers, "She does that every time any of the Rangeman guys are in here. You would think that she would know better by now."

"I can't blame her. I almost fell off of the treadmill this morning. I couldn't stop watching the guys at the Rangeman gym."

Lester waggles his eyebrows at me and says, "Did my sexy body distract you from your workout this morning?"

"Actually, I was referring to Cal, Junior, Tank, Bobby, and Binkie." Everyone at the table laughs, except Lester, who looks like his feelings are hurt. "Don't be upset Lester. You are very distracting, too." Lester smiles at me like he just won the lottery.

The waitress come back with our drinks and we all order pizza. Well everyone, except Ranger, who orders a salad. Who taught this guy how to eat?


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 9

LPOV

I have to admit it, Allie Jo is good. I have never seen Ranger in shock before. I should talk to Ranger and the rest of the core team about Allie Jo staying on at Rangeman after we deal with this Valentine situation. She has potential to be really good at this job. Allie Jo is a woman with many talents. Stephanie actually looked like my real sister, Carmen, by the time Allie Jo was done with her. When Stephanie introduced herself as Rosa Santos, the look on Ranger's face was priceless. Ranger's blank face was unable to make an appearance due to the smile on his face. Ranger and Abuela Rosa were close while he was living in Miami. I know he appreciated Stephanie honoring our Abuela by using her name. Allie Jo and Stephanie even had someone at Rangeman create a fake identification for Stephanie. Those girls have really thought this through.

As we sat at our table eating our pizza, we began placing bets on who would believe that Allie Jo was Stephanie. I was up two hundred dollars when Morelli came into Pino's. Woody bet five hundred dollars that Morelli would figure it out in five minutes; I bet it would take ten. While we were placing our bets, Stephanie was telling Allie Jo that about how Morelli calls her cupcake even though she has repeatedly asked him not to.

"I'll bet you a dozen Boston Crèmes that I can make it where he'll never call you Cupcake again." Allie Jo says.

"You're on." Stephanie grins.

Allie Jo gets up and walks by Joe, pretending not to notice him sitting at the bar and order a drink.

"Hey, Cupcake. I see you hear with those thugs." Morelli snickers.

Allie Jo turns around and punches Morelli in the face. "Do not call me Cupcake!"

"Stephanie, you just assaulted a police officer. I could arrest you for this." He yells.

"No, you won't, Joe." Allie says with a grin.

"And just why won't I!" Joe barks.

"Because if you arrest me, I'll be force to talk to your new girlfriend about how you continue to use your pet name for me. Do you think that she'll be that understanding? I certainly wouldn't understand." Allie Jo snaps.

Morelli opens his mouth to say something when Pino brings Joe his order. While Joe pays Allie Jo walks back to our where we are erupting in laughter.

"I don't think the word, Cupcake, will be an issue any longer." Allie Jo says as she sits down.

Stephanie tries to speak, but can't hardly talk for laughing. "I….wish…I….had….a…..video…..camera."

Woody, whose face is as red as his hair, says "Don't worry, Bomber. I used my cell phone to video the entire thing. I'll email you a copy."

Earlier today the core team decided it would be safer for Allie Jo to stay at Haywood for the time being. We're pretty sure that Valentine is aware that Ranger has moved Stephanie in to protect her. Woody brought Allie Jo things to Haywood earlier this afternoon and left them in my apartment. I'm planning on staying in Cal's apartment using the pull out couch in his living room. The thought of Allie Jo sleeping in my bed brings a smile to my face. I shake my head. I have to stop thinking like that. We haven't even had out first date yet.

In order to keep up appearances Stephanie rode back to Haywood with me and Allie Jo rode with Ranger. Trenton is used to seeing Stephanie in Ranger's cars. We didn't want to raise any red flags in case Valentine is watching.

We were almost back to Rangeman when Stephanie asks, "You really like her, don't you?"

"I'm not hiding it very well, am I?"

"Even your blank face can't cover it up. I've never seen you like this, Lester. I'm happy for you." She tells me.

"Allie Jo has only arrived in Trenton yesterday, and well…. I don't know how to explain it. I haven't felt this alive since before I joined the Rangers. In the twenty four hours I've known Allie Jo, it's like all is right with the world again."

Stephanie smiles as I turn into the Rangeman underground garage.

RPOV

Usually when I drive I get into my "zone" as my Babe calls it. Not tonight, I have a few things to discuss with Allie Jo. "I haven't spoken with the core team but I would like for you to consider working for Rangeman for at least a three month trial period. Three months is out standard probation time. If the last twenty four hours are any indication, we could use you at Rangeman." I decide to leave out that I'm hoping if she stays on at Rangeman that I can talk Babe into working full time.

Allie Jo thinks for a moment before she answers. "I think that I would like that, but what exactly would the job entail?"

"Basically, we do private security and skip tracing. Everyone at Rangeman has a partner, occasionally we will rotate partners. I would leave Woody out of your rotation, and probably Lester. Since Woody is your cousin, I don't want him to be distracted by worrying your family would kill him if something happened to you."

Allie laughs, "Why Lester?"

"I think that it's pretty clear why Lester shouldn't be your partner." I tell her. "He's first concern would be your safety above his. Then I would have to answer to my family."

"I think you're over estimating Lester's interest in me." Allie Jo says. "Ranger, may I speak freely?"

I nod. I normally don't allow my employees to speak freely to me, but I have a feeling she would do it anyway, even if I said no.

"You need to tell her." She says.

I glance over at Allie Jo. "I'm not sure what you're talking about. I need to tell who what?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about. You need to tell Steph how you feel about her."

"This is none of your business." I shoot her a glare hoping to shut her up, unfortunately she shares a quality with Babe that keeps her going.

"That's where you're wrong, Ranger. I only met Stephanie yesterday and I fell as close to her as my best friend back home. She loves you. It's obvious to everyone when she looks at you. I thought that she would give herself away tonight at Pino's while you were looking for her. It's also obvious that you feel the same way. All of the guys at Rangeman talk about how you would give up your life to protect her." Allie Jo expresses.

"My life doesn't lend itself to relationships. I have a lot of enemies that would come after her just to get to me." I counter.

"Ranger, that's complete bull and you know it!" Allie Jo snaps.

We drive the rest of the way to Haywood in silence.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 10

SPOV

Sunday morning I wake up at six. I quickly dress in my workout clothes and head down to the Rangeman gym. I'm not surprised that Allie Jo is already in the gym. I am surprised by what she's doing. Allie Jo is sparring with Cal. She is holding her own, although Cal without a doubt has the upper hand. Woody is at the side of the mat coaching her while the rest of the guys are cheering her on.

"How long has this been going on?" I ask Lester.

"About a half hour." He answers. No sooner that he answers me, Cal pins Allie Jo. When Cal helps Allie Jo up, he wraps her in a bear hug, telling her, "That's mighty impressive for your time."

Lester growls as he watches Cal swing Allie Jo around.

Allie Jo smiles at Cal, spots me, and walks over. "Morning, Steph!"

"Why on earth were you sparring with Cal?" I ask.

"Woody says that all of Rangeman spar for practice. Ranger offered me a three month probation to work at Rangeman. It wouldn't be fair to the other guys if I'm not held to the same standards as they are."

"That's great, Allie Jo!" I say giving her a hug. "Ranger's been trying to get me to work here full time over the years. I occasionally work part time doing searches and background checks. Maybe I will take his offer to work here seriously if there was another female around here. Maybe Ranger would let us be partners. I love all the guys that work here, but when Ranger assigns one of the Merry Men to help me they're actually babysitting me. If you are my partner, maybe I would at least feel some independence."

"I love that idea. Can you imagine seeing a skips face when they see both of us. They'll think they're seeing double." She laughed.

"Maybe you can help me train with my gun. The Merry Men use all the technical terms, and it's intimidating. I might be more comfortable learning from you."

"I'd be happy to." Allie Jo says as we climb on the treadmills. Since I am completely out of shape I did a brisk walk while she ran. We talked the entire time we were on the treadmills discussing our families and childhood. Turns out we have a lot more in common that we realized. Allie Jo was even a majorette in high school.

We were deep into trading fire baton stories (apparently Allie Jo set the entire football field on fire during the halftime show of the homecoming game), when I noticed Lester looking intently at Allie Jo. Lester walked directly into the gym mirrored wall. I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"What's so funny?" Allie Jo asks.

"Nothing," I smile. "Absolutely nothing."

RPOV

I'm watching the Babe on the monitor in my office. I can't believe she's actually in the gym of her own free will. Usually, I have to break into her apartment and drag her out of bed. Well, I don't have to break into her apartment. I just like to watch her sleep for a while before I drag her out of bed.

I watch Babe and Allie Jo leave the treadmills and head over to the punching bag. Allie Jo is demonstrating the proper way to throw a punch, making Babe mimic her in slow motion. It looks like Allie Jo is getting Babe to take training seriously. Well, maybe not seriously, since they are spending as much time laughing as training, but it's more that my men have been able to get Stephanie to do.

Babe and Allie Jo did so well with Babe's disguise last night. I can't believe I couldn't pick Babe out in crowd, so much for being aware of my surroundings. They don't know it yet, but I plan on sending them out to test their disguises again today. It would be beneficial to see if they could pull it off for a longer period of time. Also, if they can do this with one of Babe's closest friends without her catching on there's no way Valentine will figure out that Allie Jo is not Babe.

I grab my cell phone to call Tank.

"Yo." He answers.

"Think Lula would want to go shopping with Stephanie and Allie Jo?" I ask.

"It's Lula. What do you think?" Tank answers.

"Tell her to meet Stephanie and Rosa at the mall food court at one o'clock." I tell him. Lester had told Tank about the disguises while we were working out earlier this morning.

"Who's going with them?" He asks.

"I plan on sending Bobby. Why?" I usually put Lester on Bombshell duty, but given his attraction to Allie Jo, he may be too easily distracted.

"Between Lula, Bomber, and Allie Jo, you may need to double his hazard pay." Tank laughs as he hangs up.

I call Bobby and ask him to come by my office. Tank's right, I probably need to offer to double his hazard pay. I may even have to triple it before the days over since Lula is going along.

SPOV

After our workout, Allie Jo and I run to our apartments to get cleaned up agreeing to meet in the break room for breakfast. After breakfast, I show Allie my cubicle. I figure that I can show her how to do searches so they won't pile up in my inbox. I was logging onto my computer when Bobby came by.

"Bomber, do you and Allie Jo feel like testing out your disguises today?" he asks.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Ranger thought the two of you deserved a shopping trip for doing such a good job on your disguises." He tells us.

"Bobby, I can barely make rent. I can't afford to go shopping, as much as I would love to." I inform him.

"Ranger said to give you these." He hands us black AMEX cards. Allie Jo's has my name on it and mine says Rosa Santos. "He said to tell you to buy more clothes for you disguises. It's a business expense."

"Well, since it's a business expense." I grin. "I just gave him the name of my fake identity last night. How did he get this made so fast?" I say looking at my Rosa Santos card.

"It's Ranger." He replies.

"Enough said."

"Be ready to meet Lula at one o'clock." he says.

Allie Jo chimes in, "Ranger said that we had to take a bodyguard to go out. Who's going with us?"

"Me." Bobby grins.

"He's giving you hazard pay, isn't he?" I ask.

"I'm getting double." He tells us. "With Lula going I think that I'll deserve it. I'll be in my clinic. Let me know when you're ready to leave.

We met Lula at the mall food court at one o'clock. Allie Jo introduces her to "Rosa" immediately.

"So you're Santos' sister." She asks. "Older or younger?"

"Younger?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm hungry. Let's eat before we get our shop on, White girl." Lula says.

While we eat, we decide to plan our shopping strategy. When we're done eating we head straight to Macy's looking for a dresses. Allie Jo finds a green halter dress that will be perfect for her date with Lester. It has a plunging neckline and the dress flares when she spins around. I found a simple spaghetti strap royal blue dress that stops about 3 inches above my knee. Lula tried on dresses for over an hour and finally found a lime green strapless dressed that she liked. I still don't know how she kept her chest from popping out of it.

We headed to the show department were Lula insisted on forcing her size nine feet into a pair of size seven FMPs. When the salesman was trying to squeeze her foot in the heels, Lula leaned down to help and knocked him in the face with her large chest. I'm pretty sure that poor man will have a bruise tomorrow. I found a pair of royal blue and rhinestone FMP's to make my dress. Allie Jo bought the same pair in silver. We finally decided to drag Lula away from the shoe department and go to Victoria Secret.

Allie Jo POV

The entire time we were in Macy's I pretended to be Stephanie. I kind of felt bad about lying to Lula, but she never had a clue that I'm not Stephanie.

When we head into Victoria Secret, we try to convince Bobby to come in with us. He waits outside mumbling about Lester and Ranger gouging his eyes out on the mats. Lula is trying to make him suffer yelling, "Yoo hoo, Bobby! Do you think my Tankie would like this thong?" I swear he looks like he may throw up.

When we're done making our purchases Lula says good bye and heads to the other side of the mall where she parked. Steph, Bobby, and I were halfway to Bobby's SUV when there was an explosion in the parking lot. Bobby's SUV is in flames.

"Not again!" Steph and I say at the same time. Bobby immediately gets on the phone calling Rangeman.

Stephanie sits on the curb, but I'm ranting and raving about how this is the entire reason I left Arkansas in the first place. Now I can just add Trenton to the list of places I can never show my face again when Stephanie starts laughing.

"This is funny" I tell her.

"Yes, it is" she responds.

"I don't see how."

"Woody hasn't told you my car history has he?"

"Not really, Why?" I say shaking my head.

"I've destroyed about eight to ten cars a year since I started bounty hunting." She tells me.

"No way and I thought my two cars were bad."

"Just another thing we have in common." She laughs as the fire trucks and the police drive up. I notice Morelli is here with a huge black eye. I don't think he'll be coming over here today.

Woody and Hal drive up in separate SUVs, as Bobby walks over to us. "Both of you head back to Rangeman with Woody. Hal will give me a lift back to the office after I give a statement to the police."

We climb into the backseat while Hal loads our shopping bags in the back. Woody climbs into the driver's seat, turns around and says, "I knew the two of you together would be trouble." I stick my tongue out at him and Stephanie gives him an Italian hand gesture.

When we get back to Rangeman, Ranger and Lester are waiting in the underground parking. As we get out of the SUV Ranger walks over to Steph and says "Babe."

"I'm fine, Ranger. I'm used to this by now." She replies. Ranger puts his arm around her and walks over to the elevator and pushes the call button.

Lester comes up to me and asks "Are you okay?"

I nod "I'm fine."

"Can I hug you?" he asks.

"Hug me? Why" I question.

"Just so I can feel that you're okay. When I saw the tracker in the SUV went offline I think my heart stopped."

"I could probably use a hug right now anyway." I tell him.

Lester pulls me into a tender warm embrace. His hug is firm, yet gentle. I feel….loved. When I start tearing up I realize the explosion must have shaken my nerves more that I originally realized.

Then Lester starts whispering in my ear. "Creo que el momento que primero miré a los ojos, ha capturado mi corazón. Será protegerlo a toda costa. Mi mundo hubiera detenido si estuviera herido."

**(I believe that the moment I first looked into your eyes, you captured my heart. I will protect you at all costs. My world would have stopped if you were hurt.) **

I stood there in his embraced shocked. He doesn't realize that I speak Spanish. I briefly consider telling him that I speak Spanish, but decide against it. He obviously isn't ready to tell me how he feels, otherwise he would have told me in English. That's when it dawns upon me that regardless of the fact that we haven't had our first date yet. I'm falling for Lester Santos.

SPOV

I assume when Ranger and I get on the elevator that we would head up to five. Ranger surprises me when he hits the button for seven. He holds my hand the entire ride up in the elevator only letting go to use his key fob to unlock his apartment.

Ranger places his keys in the silver tray by his front door and removes his utility belt placing it on the table next to the tray. We walk into the living room standing just a few feet apart. He doesn't say a word, so I finally ask, "Ranger what are we doing up here?"

He looks at me so intently and finally answers. "I'm doing what I should have done, instead of sending you back to Morelli." He reaches for me, pulls me close to him and kisses me. When he finally pulls back, he looks deep into my eyes saying, "I love you Stephanie. No qualifiers. I love you." As he brings my lips to his again.

When I finally have a moment to catch my breath I look at him and say "I love you too, Carlos."

"Say it again." He demands.

"I love you Carlos." Then he picks me up and carries me to his bedroom.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 11

SPOV

Monday morning arrived much too early. When the alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning, I felt Carlos lean over to kiss me before he gets up. "Babe, stay in bed. I'm going down to the gym. I'll be back for breakfast."

"Do you still have a set of my gym clothes in your closet?" I ask as I sit up in bed.

"Babe, Ella practically has an entire wardrobe for you in there. Why?" he asks.

"I'm meeting Allie Jo down there this morning. I want to go early to see if she will help me with some more self defense."

"You know that I would be happy to help you with that." He says walking up and wrapping his arms around me.

"No, you can't. I'll get all hot and bothered with you pitting me in those holds. I won't learn anything. I would much rather stay in your holds. At least with Allie Jo, I can pay attention and learn something." I say as I get dressed.

"Babe, I wouldn't mind putting you in some holds tonight."

"You keep that thought, Batman. In the mean time, we need to get to the gym." Carlos raises his eyebrow at me. I guess he never thought I would set foot in the gym on my own free will.

"Proud of you, Babe."

Allie Jo POV

I didn't sleep much last night. The words that Lester whispered to me kept going over and over in my head. Around two in the morning I was in desperate need of someone to talk to. I didn't want to call Mandi Rae back home, because she doesn't know Lester. I need someone that knows him to give me some feedback. I decided to go knock on Stephanie's apartment. I give up and head back to my apartment after knocking a third time. Stephanie was either dead to the world when she sleeps or she sleeping in Ranger's apartment on seven. Personally, I'm hoping he pulled his head out of his butt and told Stephanie how he feels about her.

I was sitting on the gym floor stretching when Ranger and Stephanie walk into the gym hand in hand Monday morning. Stephanie joins me to stretch and as Ranger walks by I smile and say, "It's about time."

Ranger chuckles. "Just because you're new doesn't mean I won't call you to the mats." He says as he heads over to the treadmills.

"Allie Jo, would you be willing to help me with self defense today. Ranger offered, but when he pins me I have no desire to try to escape." Stephanie giggles.

"We can practice a few things, but I'm not an expert my any means. Maybe we can ask Woody to help us with some holds. It would probably be better if we practice with someone that has more upper body strength that we do."

"I was also hoping you would show me some more kickboxing stuff, since you've been taking classes for a while. We stand up and head over to the punching bag. I begin going over the correct way to throw a punch, when I notice Lester walk into the gym. He spots me immediately and waves before he begins his warm. I can feel myself blushing.

"What's wrong?" Steph asks.

"Steph, I really need to talk to someone about yesterday. Can we have breakfast in your apartment? Woody told me this place is wired for audio and video. I need to talk to someone without worrying about who's listening." I say to her.

"Is this about the explosion?" She asks.

"Not exactly." I answer.

"Is this about a hot guy with green eyes?" Stephanie questions me with a grin.

I don't say a word, but my eyes cut over to Lester.

"Ranger!" She yells. "I'm eating breakfast with Allie Jo. We'll finish our workout later." She doesn't wait for Ranger to respond before she grabs me by the arm and drags me out of the gym.

LPOV

Stephanie drags Allie Jo out of the gym so fast that you would think that the building is on fire. I head over to the treadmill next to Ranger to begin my run. "Any idea what that was about?" I ask.

"Most likely, you or me. My money is on you." He says.

Hector joins us on the treadmill on the other side of me. Hector is learning English, only the core team knows about it so when he's when us he practices. "Hector, Who made Bomber's fake i.d.?" I ask.

"I did." Hector answers.

"Who asked you to make them?" Ranger questions.

"Woody's cousin."

"Allie Jo? How? She doesn't speak Spanish." I wonder aloud.

"She's fluent." Hector tells us.

I start thinking about what I said to Allie Jo yesterday after Bobby's SUV exploded. I immediately stop running. Because the treadmill is still running, it sends me flying backwards. I look at Ranger and Hector who are laughing at me laying on the gym floor and say "I'm screwed."

SPOV

Allie Jo and I go to the apartment I'm using on four. I immediately call Ella. She picks up on the first ring.

"Yes, dear." She says when she answers.

"Ella, how did you know it was me?" I ask.

"When you called the apartment number comes up on the computer screen next to the phone." She tells me.

"Ranger thinks of everything, dear." Ella laughs.

"Ella, Allie Jo and I have a girl emergency. Would it be too much trouble to ask for chocolate chip pancakes?" I ask.

"My pleasure, Stephanie." She replies. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I think your advice could come in handy." I look Allie Jo as she nods.

"That would be great, Ella."

"I'll be at your apartment in twenty minutes." Ella tells me.

"Great. Thanks Ella." I say. I turn to Allie Jo. "There's no situation that Ella's chocolate chip pancakes can't fix. She loves her nephews, but so far she's always taken my side over Ranger. I'm sure she'll do the same with you." I laugh.

Ella's POV

I load my cart with three plates of chocolate chip pancakes, juice, and coffee, and head down to Stephanie's apartment. Whenever Stephanie asks for my chocolate chip pancakes, it usually means one of two things. One: she's been injured; or Two: my nephew, Carlos has done or said something stupid. However, this call was about Allie Jo, which means that my other nephew, Lester, has done or said something stupid. It seems to be a trait that runs through the men in our family.

Just as I raise my hand to knock, Stephanie opens the door. "I smelled the pancakes as soon as you stepped off the elevator." She says.

I can see Allie Jo pacing back and forth in the kitchen as Stephanie and I set the table. Allie Jo joins us as we sit down to eat.

Stephanie digs in and moans. "Ella, these are amazing."

"Thank you, dear." I turn to Allie Jo and ask, "What did Lester do, Allie Jo?"

She looks at me confused. "How did you know that this is about Lester?"

Stephanie laughs. "Ella sees all, knows all."

I smile. "Dear, I have free rein over this building. Very little gets by me. I've seen the way Lester looks at you. It reminds me of the way another nephew looks at the woman he loves." I say looking at Stephanie. "If only he would remove his head from where it doesn't belong."

"Ella, Carlos told me that he loves me last night." Stephanie smiles.

"Well, it took him long enough. You're calling him Carlos now. That is so much better than Ranger. It wouldn't be right for the woman he loves to use his street name." I turn back to Allie Jo and ask, "Now what did Lester do?"

Allie Jo POV

I proceed to tell Stephanie and Ella about what Lester said to me in Spanish yesterday. I also tell them that it made me realize that I'm falling for him and that it scares me. I only met him Friday. We haven't even had out first date yet, much less our first kiss.

Ella looks excited. "Allie Jo," she says, "sometimes out heads get in the way of our hearts. I've know Lester since the day he was born. It may have only been a few days, but since you came to Haywood, Lester is a different person. Usually when the guys that work here meet a girl, they'll ask me to go pick up flowers and gifts to give the girls, since they have such a busy schedule. I offered to help Lester Saturday morning with the flowers and candy for you. Lester wouldn't let me help him. He was determined to do all of the work himself. I knew right then that he had already fallen in love with you."

"He's in love with me?" I ask.

"Year, dear. He's in love with you, whether he realizes it or not. Just take everything one step at a time. Don't rush into something that you're not comfortable with, but don't run from him either."

"This is a lot for me to process. It was never like this with guys back home. Lester has already put more effort in, than all of my past relationships combined. I just hope that I don't mess this up."

"You won't dear. Just be understanding when Lester does or says something stupid. He will be only trying to protect you." Ella adds.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 12

Valentine's POV

I want Ranger to know that I mean business, which is why I planted the car bomb on the Rangeman vehicle while Stephanie and her friends shopped. I've done months of recon finding out about every aspect of Stephanie's life. I knew all about her family, coworkers, skips, and friends. I wasn't surprised that that overweight, former ho was with her. However, the Spanish chick had never popped up on my radar.

It's time to really make Ranger and all of Rangeman suffer. The next time she leaves Rangeman, I plan on making my move and taking her. I've already secured a cabin that is not under my name. They'll never find us.

I have everything ready. Tranquilizers for Stephanie are just powerful enough to knock her out. I also have enough ammunition to kill anyone who gets in my way. I'm looking forward to getting Stephanie to the cabin so I can play with my new toy.

SPOV

After breakfast, I trained Allie Jo on running searches. She did a pretty good job and took to it like a natural. I was letting her run a search on her computer in her cubicle that Ranger assigned to her when my cell phone rang. "Good morning, mother."

"Why does my daughter explode SUVs in the mall's parking lot? Pamela Salvatore's daughter, Jenny doesn't cause SUV's to explode." My mother rants.

"Mom, Jenny is also dating Joe, so maybe you should go adopt her." I snap back.

"Don't you speak to me like that young lady! I raised you better than that. Carolyn Dryer said she saw

you at Macy's with a Hispanic girl. Who was that?" she asks.

I had to giggle. I can't be honest and tell her that was me. If I tell her the truth, she might let it slip to the 'Burg grapevine and blow my cover. The problem is that unless I'm working a distraction, I'm a horrible liar. Maybe since we're on the phone and she can't stare me into guilt, she'll believe me. "That was Rosa, Lester Santos' sister. She's in Trenton visiting Lester."

"Oh, okay then. Don't forget to come to dinner Friday. I'm making pot roast."

"I know, mom. You always make pot roast of Fridays. I can't Friday, I have plans."

"Well, come Saturday instead. Since you're not dating Joseph, Diane Russo's son, Marty, is going thru a divorce. It should be finalized in the next week or two. I'll invite him to join us. See you Saturday." She says as she hangs up. She's always been nagging me to get remarried and become a perfect little 'Burg housewife clone. She must be getting really desperate if she's willing to fix me up with a guy that's not even divorced yet. She never even gave me a chance to tell her about Ranger. I'm not sure she'll be thrilled since he's not 'Burg, but Grandma Mazur will be ecstatic.

Allie Jo raises her eyebrow (Why can everyone do that but me?) and asks, "Mom?"

"Yeah."

"Enough said. Tank called while you were on the phone. They want us to join them in the main conference room to talk about the car bomb." She tells me.

When we arrive for the meeting, Ranger, the core team, and Woody are already seated. I take the seat next to Ranger and Allie Jo sits next to Woody.

Ranger looks at Bobby and says, "Report."

"The bomb was placed under my SUV near the gas tank. It was detonated by remote, which means that he was most likely watching from a nearby location."

"So, he's watching us." I ask.

"It appears so." Bobby replies.

Tank speaks up. "I think that it's time that we draw him out."

"How?" I ask.

Allie Jo clears her throat. "By using me as bait."

"No, if you think that you're risking you life for me you're crazy." I tell her.

"That's sort of the point, Steph. Otherwise putting you in a disguise and me pretending to be you is a waste of time." Allie Jo counters.

Lester is being unusually quiet. "The only way I'm agreeing to this is if I'm close by to protect Allie Jo."

"No offense Lester, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Allie Jo says.

"And just why not?" Lester argues defensively.

"Lester, I appreciate that you want to protect me, but you jump to protect me before he gets close enough for Rangeman to take him down." Allie Jo states.

"But…" begins Lester.

Ranger interrupts him. "Santos, Allie Jo is right. Babe, can you and Allie Jo start running searches so we can come up with a strategy to take down Valentine?"

"We already began running them this morning. There seem to be quite a lot of information. It will probably take the rest of the day to run the searches. Allie Jo and I can probably have the preliminary information ready for you by late tomorrow afternoon."

"You never disappoint, Babe." He smiles. "We'll plan to meet Wednesday morning to discuss strategy. Dismissed."

RPOV

"Lester. My office. Now." I order.

When we reach my office I sit at my desk and Lester sit across from me. Lester begins, "Ranger, I know what you're going to say, and I don't care. Using Allie Jo as bait is a bad idea."

"I understand how you feel." I agree.

"Understand? What do you mean that you understand? There's no way you would let Stephanie do this if the situation was reversed." He argues.

"First of all, it's not a matter of me 'letting' Stephanie do anything. As much as I would try, there's no way I could stop her. I have a hard time controlling myself each and every time she does a distraction. Do I need to remind you what she went through to rescue my daughter? I know that this is hard for you, but I do understand. Don't make the same mistakes that I made with Stephanie. Despite everything she's gone through, I still underestimated her. I refused to believe in her ability to handle my life and the dangers that come along with it. I realize now that I was just trying to protect myself from Stephanie's rejection. Second of all, Allie Jo can do this. Did you watch her sparring with Cal? Bobby had to wrap Cal's ribs, not that he would ever admit it. Valentine does not have Cal skills. If push comes to shove, Allie Jo can take Valentine on. At the very least, she can hold him off until we get there."

"I don't want to take a chance of something happening to her." Lester says.

"It's not our choice, it's hers. If she changes her mind about doing this, then we'll find another way. Until then, this is our best and quickest chance to take him down."

Allie Jo POV

As Stephanie and I walk back to our cubicles, she tells me "You realize that Lester doesn't want you in danger, and neither do I for that matter."

"It's the quickest way to get this over with you that everyone can get on with our lives. Ranger will put you on permanent lock down if we don't get this guy. Lester would want to put me on lock down after his reaction during the meeting."

"Why don't we get started on the research we've already done on Valentine. Maybe we can come up with something that would be helpful for the takedown." She suggests. "I feel like we're missing something in our searches. Maybe we should also run searches on some of his extended family."

"You mean like aunts, uncles, and cousins? How would we know where to start?" I ask.

"We make a list and wait for my spidey senses to go off."

"Woody has already told me to always trust your spidey senses, even if it sounds crazy." Stephanie and I spent the rest of the afternoon running searches on the entire Valentine family.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 13

SPOV

I spent Monday night on seven again, getting very little sleep. I did, however, drag myself out of bed Tuesday morning to meet Allie Jo in the gym. Not that I am willing to admit this to Carlos, but I'm beginning to enjoy my gym time. I think it helps I'm not the only woman in a room filled with testosterone.

After the gym, Carlos and I showered, and went down to five to start working. Allie and I decided to move to one of the smaller conference room since our cubicles we cramped with all of the extra papers from the searches we ran.

I had just picked up the search we had run on a one of Valentine's uncles when my spidey senses started going off. I keep reading until I came to something that felt like a flashing neon sign. I circle the information with a highlighter, and hand the file to Allie Jo. "Allie Jo, check this out."

Allie Jo takes the file. "But this guy died six years ago."

"I know, but look at the tax records on the cabin in the Pine Barrons. Someone is still paying insurance on the property under the dead uncle's name. The deed hasn't been changed either. Valentine's uncle never married, but would probably be safe to assume that Valentine's mother inherited the cabin from her brother. Something is telling me this is important."

"Steph, I'm scheduled to be down at the gun range in five minutes. Do you want to take a break from this and come practice with me? Then I have a date to get ready for." She grins. When Allie Jo mentions her date with Lester my spidey senses start going off again. I need to talk to Carlos.

Allie Jo looks at me with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. No, I think I'll go see if Carlos is in his office."

"Just make sure his office is sound proof before you decide to jump him." Allie laughs as she heads to the elevator and I turn to go to Carlos' office. When I get to Carlos' office, I knock on the door and he waves me in.

"We'll need to finish this later. A pressing matter has come up." He says before he hangs up the phone.

Carlos smiles and asks, "Babe, are you here to fulfill my office fantasies?" He pulls me into his lap and begins to nibble where my neck meets my shoulder.

"Mmmmm" I moan. Now I can't remember what I came in here for. "Is your office sound proof?" I ask.

"Yes. When I was running missions for the government, sometimes my handler would meet with me here in my office. Why?"

"Good." I say leaning down to kiss him.

"Dios, Babe. I've been fighting the urge to drag you into my office for some alone time all day. I can't wait until this is all over so I can take you on an actual date." He tells me.

An actual date with Carlos sounds amazing. Date? Why does that ring a bell? Carlos leans in to kiss me again when it hits me. A Date! Now I remember why I came in here. "Wait a minute, Carlos!"

"Is there something wrong?" Carlos asks concerned.

"Yes, I mean no. I mean, I would love to fulfill some of your office fantasies but that's not why I came in here."

"What's the matter?"

"Do you know where Lester is taking Allie Jo tonight?"

"He's taking her to Calor. It means heat in Spanish. It has a restaurant on one side and a dance club on the other. Why?"

"When Allie Jo mentioned her day, my spidey senses went off. I think we should go to the club in case something happens. I would hate for them to cancel their date."

"Babe, it's a good idea, but I don't think that Lester and Allie Jo will want a couple of bodyguards to tag along on their date."

"Oh, I'm not saying that we'll go with them, but I do think that we need to be there just in case. We'll keep our distance.

"Babe, what do you mean we?" You're not going." He says firmly.

"Yes, I am. Besides if you want to blend in at a club, you'll need a date. A bunch of men at a club without dates would stand out like a sore thumb. If you have dates with you it might keep some of the women from throwing themselves at you."

Carlos laughs. "You know that I love you and that you're the only one I want. But I guess I can see you're point. Who did you have in mind?"

"Tank and Lula, Connie and Woody, and of course, you and me. I'll have to wear my disguise so I won't be recognized."

"Fine, but you have to tell Allie Jo. I'll handle Lester." He says.

"Deal. Now tell me more about these fantasies of yours." Carlos gives me his wolf grin.

After a few hours in Carlos' office, I went to me apartment on four to get ready for tonight. I considered taking everything I need to seven to get ready, but if I do that we might not ever make it to the club. Before I get ready, I call Connie at the bonds office.

"Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, Connie speaking."

"What's up girl? Vinnie is about to have a coronary, since you haven't been by in a couple of days to pick up any files."

"Do I have any new files to pick up?" I ask.

"No, they're only two new skips and they are for Rangeman." She tells me.

"Then why are Vinnie's panties in a bunch?"

Connie laughs, "Its Vinnie, his panties are always in a bunch."

"Do you and Lula have plans tonight?"

Connie yells "Lula! Do you have any plans tonight?" I can hear Lula yell no in response.

"How would you like to go dancing with a couple of Rangeman's finest?" I ask.

"Absolutely, who are we talking about here?"

"You and Woody, Lula and Tank, and Ranger and Rosa." I answer.

"Who's Rosa?" she asks.

I swear them both to secrecy before I explain that the only way Ranger will let me leave the building is in disguise. When I'm in my disguise they have to refer to me as Rosa Santos. I also explain about Allie Jo's date with Lester, and my spidey senses were going off about their date.

"So, basically steer clear of Allie Jo and Lester. If we do talk to her, we should call her Stephanie."

"You got it." I tell her. "We're going to let them have dinner alone and just keep an eye out for them at the club, so they can relax and have a good time. We'll meet you there around nine tonight." Connie fills me in on a little bit of 'Burg gossip before we hang up. Now I just have to tell Allie Jo.

RPOV

After my Babe left my office, I called Tank and filled him in.

"What's up, Bossman?" he asks.

"I need you, Lester, Bobby, and Woody to come to my office immediately."

"Be there in two." Tank hangs up.

Exactly two minutes later my core team and Woody walk into my office. "Stephanie's spidey senses went off about tonight. Lester, we're going to give you and Allie Jo privacy, but we're going to be at the club in case something goes down."

"In order to help our cover, Lula will accompany Tank, and Connie will be with Woody. We need to spread out throughout the areas of the club keeping a look out. Bobby, I want you in a car, watching the back door to the club. Do you have any questions?" I ask. They shake their head no.

"Good. Now get back to work."


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 14

Allie Jo POV

After going down to the gun range, I spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for my date with Lester. Stephanie called me earlier and explained that they were going to also going to be at the club tonight. She said that they were going to be there just in case something goes down tonight. I not worried about Valentine showing up tonight, but it was nice knowing that Stephanie, Connie, and Lula would be there to have my back if I panic with Lester. I really think there is potential for us to have a relationship. I'm a little nervous that I will say or do something to mess that up.

Stephanie will dress as Rosa tonight, but I decide not to wear my blue Stephanie contacts. Ranger wants me to wear them every time I leave Haywood. But I since I'll be with Lester, I really don't think it's necessary. I want to feel like myself, not like I'm pretending to be someone else.

By eight, I am completely ready. I'm spraying vanilla scented perfume when there is a knock on my door. When I answer the door, Lester is standing there holding a bouquet of lilies and a plate of brownies.

"Come on in, Lester. I just need to grab my purse." I tell him.

Lester steps inside the door. He's wearing black dress pants and a green dress shirt with the top two buttons open. The dress shirt matched my dress perfectly and brought out his beautiful green eyes. Lester is standing there staring at me. According to Stephanie, she's never known Lester to be speechless. This may be a first.

"Are those for me?" I ask. "Those brownies look delicious. Did Ella make them?"

"Actually, I made the brownies myself. Don't tell Ranger, but Betty Crocker and I have a special relationship." Lester says, handing me the Flowers and sitting the plate of brownies on the table.

"That was so sweet of you to make brownies for me and the flowers are beautiful. Since this is your apartment, is there a vase that I could put these in?" I am a curious person by nature, but I didn't want to snoop through Lester's cabinets and drawers.

"I don't own a vase, but there should be a pitcher I use for tea in the cabinet. He walks over to the kitchen cabinet and pulls out a pitcher and filled it with water. I place the flower in it and turn to him. "You know, you didn't have to bring me flowers or go to the trouble to make me brownies."

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to do something special that I've never done for someone before. You're the first person I've ever baked for. I usually just bake for myself." He tells me. "You look stunning."

I blush. "You look pretty amazing in that shirt, Lester. It makes your eyes even greener than normal."

"Thanks, Stephanie suggested that I wear this color yesterday. Now that I see you dress, I know why she made the suggestion." He smiles. "Are you ready to go, Sweetheart?" He says, offering me his hand.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I say returning his smile.

SPOV

I put on my "Rosa" disguise early so I could watch on the monitors as Lester picks Allie Jo up for their date. I watch them leave the apartment arm in arm and ride in the elevator down to the garage. I've known Lester for awhile now. I've seen Lester and Ranger go head to head with some of the worse gangs on Stark Street like it was no big deal. I've never seen Lester as nervous as he was when he picked up Allie Jo.

"Babe, are you spying on Lester and Allie Jo?" Carlos says from behind me.

"I prefer to think of it as looking out for my friend's happiness."

"So you're spying?" He asks.

"Of course I am." I laugh.

Carlos laughs and shakes his head as he reaches for my hand. "Let's go to dinner, Babe."

"Where are we eating, Batman?"

Carlos pulls a blindfold out of his pocket. "You'll see. Turn around."

"Carlos, you know I hate surprises."

"Just trust me." He says as he puts the blindfold on me, covering my eyes. Carlos guides me to the elevator. I can feel the elevator going up. I can't figure out why he's making me wear a blindfold, it's not like I've never been to seven before. When the elevator stops, Carlos picks me up bridal style. I can feel him carrying up stairs. When we reach the top, he lowers me to my feet and opens the door. I can feel a gentle breeze. We must be on the roof. I can hear music playing quietly as Carlos removes my blindfold.

I gasp. Across the roof, Christmas lights are hanging everywhere. A candlelit table was set with a single red rose as the centerpiece.

Carlos looks deep into my eyes and says, "I didn't think it was right for Lester and Allie Jo to have their first date before we had ours. I've been in love with you for years, so I have a lot of catching up to do."

I can feel my eyes welling up with tears. This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me. The most Joe ever did was buy a pizza and tell me that the boys missed me.

Carlos laughs, "This is just the beginning, Babe. I have many more ways I plan to show you how much I love you."

"Out loud?" I ask.

"Yeah, Babe. Out loud." He smiles.

Allie Jo POV

Lester pulls up to in front of Calor. This must be a pretty popular place, there are people everywhere. Lester gets out of his car and hands his keys to the valet. The valet begins to open my door for me, but Lester says something to him, and he backs up quickly. When Lester helps me out of the car, I ask "What did you say to that poor kid?"

"I just told him to step away from my woman." He smiles, taking my hand.

"Your woman? I don't remember being your personal property." I tell him.

"I….Uh…" Lester stammers.

"Relax, Lester. I'm only kidding. I kind of like the whole Alpha male thing. Just as long as the Alpha male doesn't expect me to sit home barefoot and pregnant." Relief washed over Lester's face.

When we enter the restaurant, a pretty dark haired girl was at the hostess station. She immediately starts undressing Lester with her eyes. "Welcome to Calor, handsome." She tells him, completely ignoring me.

"Santo, party of two." He says. He gets points for being completely oblivious to her flirting.

"Mr. Santos, my name is Candi. Welcome to Calor. When will the other half of your party arrive?"

Lester looks at her like she's crazy. "My entire party is here." He tells her. The hostess looks down her nose at me. Poor girl, she has no idea who she's dealing with."

"Well, handsome, if you decide to trade up, I get off in a half hour." I have to give this girl some credit. She's brave to be this stupid.

Lester opens his mouth to say something and I lean over and whisper, "Don't, Lester. I'll handle this later."

That little brat of a hostess shows us out table. She proceeds to drop the menus so she when she picks them up Lester could have an eyeful down her dress. To Lester's credit, his eyes never left mine when we sit down. When she walks away, I start scanning the restaurant. When I see what I'm looking for, I stand up and pick up my purse

Lester looks panicked. "I'm so sorry about that. She was extremely disrespectful. I should ask to speak to the manager. Please don't leave."

"Don't worry. You're hot, you can't help it if woman are stupid enough to hit on you in front of your date. I'll be right back." I tell him.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"Just watch." I walk over to the bar and speak to a man wearing glasses. Then I turn to speak to the bartender indiscreetly pointing over to the hostess. After we speak for a few minutes and they nod, while I pay the bartender the man at the bar writes something down on a napkin. Then I walk back over to Lester, who is sitting at our table watching with interest.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what you just did." Lester smiles.

"Do you see that man over there?" I ask.

"The one with the glasses?" he asks.

"I just paid the bartender to send her the most expensive, fruity drink that they have and send it to the hostess. I asked the other man to write a note asking her to wait in the employee break room. I had him put in the note that she may need to wait a while because it may take you some time to ditch your date. He signed it L. Santos."

"I hope that I'm never on your bad side." He laughs.

"You would do good to remember that." I laugh.

We spend the next hour eating and discussing our childhoods. The food was amazing, some of the best I've ever eaten.

"What did you do before coming to Trenton?" he asks.

"Has Woody ever mentioned our cousin, Jason?" I ask.

Lester shakes his head no, so I continue "Jason was killed when I was around eighteen years old, in a hunting accident. Jason and a friend had gone hunting in the Ozark Mountains. His friend tripped on a root from a tree. They had the safeties on the guns off and when his friend fell, the gun fired. The bullet went straight through Jason's heart. He died instantly. I couldn't stand the thought of other families suffering a loss like that, so after I graduated with a degree in secondary education, I decided to do something a little different with my life. I taught firearm safety. I actually worked off a grant that would allow me to travel across Arkansas teaching classes. Sometimes schools would even ask me to speak to students. My goal was to teach adults and children that guns are not toys and can be extremely dangerous in handled incorrectly."

"I can tell your job meant a lot to you." Lester says.

"It does, or should I day it did. Due to budget cuts the program lost its funding. I have a friend from high school that went through something similar and he is working on grants to keep the program going. As for me, it was time for a change. How about you? What made you decide to join the Army and become a Ranger?"

"Honestly, I just wanted to make a difference. I know that it may sound corny, but it's true. I chose Army, mostly because Ranger and Tank had chosen Army. We were all in the same Ranger class. Up until recently we were under contract to run missions for the government." Lester tells me.

"Let me guess….You could tell me, but then you'd have to kill me." I laugh.

"Pretty much. Sweetheart, why don't we hit the dance floor next door?" he asks.

"I'd love to." I say as he takes me by the hand and leads me to the other side of the restaurant, where there is an inside entrance to the club.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this story. Most of the characters are JE. Allie Jo is my creation.

Chapter 15

Valentine's POV

First, Stephanie strings along Manoso, now she's stringing Santos along. There must be a reason that both of the guys worship at her feet. I am ready and my plan is in place. I notice Bobby is sitting in a Rangeman SUV parked where he can watch the back door of the restaurant, so I go in thru the front. Before I go over to the club side I walk over to a waitress and pay her to take a cup of coffee that I had laced with sleeping pills out to him. I tell her to say that the coffee is courtesy of Mr. Manoso. I'm not stupid, if Bobby is here, I'm sure there are a few more Rangeman scattered around.

The club is dark and crowded, even though it's only Tuesday. I quickly spot Manoso over to the side of the dance floor with that girl that Stephanie was shopping with on Sunday. On the other side of the room I spot Woody with that woman from the bonds office. I scan the room for other Rangeman, but only see Tank with that former ho that's also friends with Stephanie. I settle myself in a dark corner and watch Stephanie and Lester enter the club from the restaurant side entrance that I had used only ten minutes before.

All I have to do is wait for Stephanie to the ladies room, then I'll take her. Unfortunately with her friends around, she have one of her friends go with her. If that happens, I'll just have to take them both. I decide to head to the hallway by the ladies room. It's dark and if I stay out here, Manoso or one of his men may spot me.

SPOV

Carlos planned the most romantic dinner and now we had just arrived at Calor. Connie and Woody, and Tank and Lula arrived a few minutes after us. Each couple spread out to different parts of the room. We agreed earlier that we should enjoy ourselves, but only one couple on the dance for at a time. That way the other couples could keep a look out for Valentine or anything else out of the ordinary.

Carlos and I had just taken our turn on the dance floor when Allie Jo and Lester entered the club. When Allie Jo looked over at me I mouthed "How's the date going?"

Allie Jo gave me the biggest smile and mouthed back "Amazing!" Lester took Allie Jo straight to the dance floor. Salsa music was playing and they moved incredibly together.

While I was watching Allie Jo and Lester, Carlos was scanning the crowd. He leans over and asks, "Anything setting your spidey senses off?"

"Not yet, but I really have to use the restroom. I'll be right back."

As I start to walk off, Carlos grabs my hand. "Can it wait until Allie Jo needs to go? That way neither one of you is left vulnerable."

"Carlos, no one here knows who I am." I argue.

"Babe, please?" He asks.

"Fine." I whine. He knows that I can't say no to him when he says please.

After two more songs, Lester and Allie Jo head to their table. Allie Jo leans over, says something to Lester and grabs her purse. She grabs my arm as she walks by Carlos and me. "Where are we going?" I ask.

"Restroom."

"Thank God!"

Surprisingly, the restroom is empty. Allie Jo immediately checks the stalls to make sure we're alone.

"Why are you checking the stalls?" I ask.

"Let's just say that the hostess at the restaurant next door was a little too interested in Lester for her own good. So I decided to play a little practical joke. When she figures out that I Lester is not ditching me to be with her, she's going to be pissed. Other than that, I'm having an amazing time." She tells me.

"Hold that thought, you can tell me more after I use the restroom." As I go into the stall and shut the door. While I'm answering nature's call, I hear a loud thump. "Are you okay?" I ask. As I walk out of the stall, someone grabs me. I feel a needle jab into my neck and everything goes black.

RPOV

I was relieved when Allie Jo walked by and took Babe with her to the restroom. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to take her. Since I'm sure that girl talk would keep them in the restroom for a little while, I make my way over to Lester's table. "How's it going?" I ask.

Lester looks at me, completely serious, and asks "Is it too soon to propose marriage on the first date?"

"As long as it took me to admit my feelings for Stephanie, I don't think I'm the right person to ask. Besides, you've know Allie Jo less than a week."

"I know, but for the first time in my life, I'm out with a woman that I can imagine spending the rest of my life with."

"Man," I laugh, "when the player falls, he falls hard."

"You're one to talk, with the exception of a couple encounters with Steph, you've been celibate since you met her." He laughs.

"Santos, you know nothing about my sex life." I growl.

"Come on, Ranger. We all know about the deal you made with her. We also know what happens when she goes off sugar."

"Santos. Mats 0500." I snap.

"Yeah, Yeah. What do you think is taking them so long" Lester asks. "They've been gone twenty minutes."

"You know how women are. It's probably just girl talk." I look at Tank and raise my eyebrow. He leans over to say something to Lula. Lula goes over to Connie, and they head to the ladies room. Tank and Woody head over to the table. "Seen anything?" I ask.

"No man. It appears to be all clear." Tank answers.

"Woody, " I tell him, "go check on Bobby."

Lula comes running to the table as quickly as her high heels can take her. When she gets to our table she is out of breath. In between breaths she tells us "Batman…..they're…gone!"

Lester and I take off running towards the ladies room. When we get there, Connie is yelling at some woman who wants in the restroom.

"Find another one!" Connie screams.

"Who made you the Queen of all restrooms?" the woman yells back.

"I did!" I yell at her. "Leave now!" The lady turns white as a sheet and runs off.

Connie looks at me. "We haven't touched anything and I wouldn't let anyone in there. Both of their purses are laying on the floor."

Woody calls my cell phone and says, "Ranger, Bobby is unconscious." I start yelling out orders. "Tank call Rangeman! Woody call the Trenton P.D.!"

Lester and I walk into the ladies room. On the mirror, written in lipstick is a message that says:

Roses are Red, Violets are blue

Having one is a treat, but having two can't be beat

Tank speaks up, "They're on their way. Was Bomber wearing a tracker?"

My anger takes over and I punch the door, yelling, "The tracker is in her purse!"


	16. Chapter 16

I don't own or make any money off of this. Pretty much everything belongs to JE, but Allie Jo is my own creation.

A/N: I actually finished this story over a week ago. I prefer to hand write everything and then type it later. I appreciate all of the comments that everyone's been leaving.

Chapter 16

LPOV

Woody had found Bobby lying between the back door and the dumpster. Apparently, Bobby had been stunned with a stun gun. When he came to, he told us that someone had parked a delivery truck at the back entrance. He assumed that they club was getting a delivery, which is not usually since so many businesses have mob ties. It's not unusual for things that "fall off a truck" to be delivered late at night. When he approached the truck, he recognized the driver from Stark Street. What he didn't see, was that the guy had a stun gun. He had only been out a few minutes when Woody found him.

"No sense in thanking Ranger and Bomber for the coffee. If I say anything to Ranger right now he won't wait to call me to the mats, he'll beat me right here." Bobby says.

"What coffee?" I asked.

"A waitress brought me a cup of coffee out to the SUV. She said it was courteous of Mr. Manoso. I assumed Bomber had made Ranger send it out for me. Since I had just finished an energy drink, I didn't figure I needed the extra caffeine, so I never drank it. You know how Bomber is; she wants to make sure we're taken care of almost as much as Ella." Bobby tells me.

"Ranger!" I yell. "Did Bomber send Bobby coffee out from the restaurant?"

"No!" He snaps and proceeds to go back to speaking with Tank.

"Ranger, you need to hear this."

Bobby tells Ranger about the waitress and gives a description of her and the delivery truck. When we find her, we ask her to describe the person that had paid her to take coffee to Bobby. The man matches Valentine's description perfectly. Valentine is going to pay for taking my Allie Jo and Stephanie. Now all we have to do is find him. The problem is we have no idea where to start looking.

SPOV

When I wake up, my head is killing me. I'm blindfolded and my hands are handcuffed behind my back. My feet are also tied together. I can tell that I'm in some type of vehicle because I can feel it moving. I can also hear squirming around. "Who's there?" I ask.

"Rosa, is that you?"

Rosa? Who's Rosa? Oh wait, Allie Jo must be using my cover. Whoever has us took us both. My money is on Valentine. I answer her, "Yeah, it's me."

Allie Jo tells me, "The best that I can tell we're in the back of a moving or delivery truck. I think he has us hid behind a bunch of boxes. He's probably trying to keep us out of sight, in case he gets pulled over by the police."

"I'm so sorry, Allie Jo. This is all my fault. I should have never agreed to let you be my decoy. You should be on your date with Lester, instead of being kidnapped with me."

"If he had taken only you, Lester and I would have been looking for you, not on our date. Listen, when we stop pretend to still be drugged. That way he hopefully won't try to drug us again. And whatever you do, don't call me anything but Stephanie. This idiot doesn't realize that I'm not you. When he grabbed me I looked right into his eyes before he drugged me. He doesn't realize that my eyes are brown and not blue."

"You got a look at him?" I ask.

"Yeah, right before he drugged me I saw his reflection in the mirror. He looked me right in the eye. It's definitely Valentine. Where do you think he's taking us?" Allie Jo asks.

"Most likely, he's taking us to his uncle's place in the Pine Barrons." I guess.

"Did you show Ranger the searches we ran on his extended family?"

I am unable to hide the panic in my voice when I tell her, "No."

Valentine's POV

I intentionally let Stephanie see me before I jabbed the needle in her neck. I expected her to scream, but I took her off guard. She just looked at me in shock. I guess Ranger never taught her to be more aware of her surroundings like he was always drilling into us.

I made sure the other girl didn't see me. I may decide to drop her off somewhere when I get done having my fun with her. It doesn't matter if Stephanie sees me, she's dead either way.

The only thing I can't decide on is when to kill Manoso. I would love to watch the life drain from his eyes. On the other hand, it would destroy him to know that he couldn't save her. Slow death or a lifetime of suffering? Decisions, Decisions.

I pull up to my uncle's old cabin and climb out of the delivery truck. I rented the truck under a false identity so it couldn't be traced back to me. When I reach the back of the truck, I raise the door and move the empty boxes that are hiding Stephanie and her friend. Good, the drugs haven't worn off yet. This is just way too easy.

RPOV

Babe and Allie Jo have been missing since about 2200 hours (10 p.m.) last night. It's now Wednesday and 1100 hours (11 a.m.). Neither Lester nor I have slept. We were headed into the main conference room to meet with the task force we had quickly assembled for the search. The task force consists of my core team, Woody, Cal, and Hal, Eddie Gazarra, Carl Constanza, and Morelli from the Trenton P.D. and two unexpected additions, Frank Plum, Babe's father, and Jack Harrison, Allie Jo's dad. Mr. Plum is retired army and Mr. Harrison is retired ATF, when they asked I couldn't say no. Both men have outstanding service records.

When Woody had called Allie Jo's parents, they took the first flight they could find. Connie and Lula took Mrs. Harrison to the Plum's house to wait with Babe's mom and grandmother.

I sat down in my seat at the head of the conference table. "Report." I ordered.

Bobby began to tell the information that my men had already heard before. I hated sitting through this again, but we needed to get Trenton P.D., Mr. Plum, and Mr. Harrison up to speed. After we gave them everything we know on Valentine, Bobby brought up a picture of Babe and Allie Jo standing side by side on the computer.

"Wait a minute." Morelli says. "Which one gave me the black eye?"

Lester answers, "That would be Allie Jo. Stephanie had told Allie Jo how you still call her 'Cupcake' and how she hates it. Allie Jo punched you to get the message across that Stephanie is not your Cupcake anymore."

"Lesson learned. I won't be making that mistake again." Morelli says.

Before Bobby has a chance to continue presenting our intel, Junior walks through the conference room door. "Sir, we have come across something that could be helpful in the search for Bomber and Allie Jo." Junior announces.

"Don't just stand there! Report!" Lester demands.

As Junior begins to speak, Binkie, Hector, and Manny begin carrying files into the room. Each file is at least two inches thick. "Sir, we found searches on about twenty members of Valentine's extended family."

That's my Babe! When her spidey senses go off, there's no stopping her. "Everyone take a file. Look for any red flags, family he may go to for help, places he could use to hold them captive."

"Bossman," Tank speaks up. "You and Lester have been up all night. You need to rest. Let us go through the Bomber's searches."

"We're fine." I snap.

"Son," Mr. Plum adds, "You and Lester are no good to our daughters if you don't get some rest."

"Frank's right." Agrees Mr. Harrison. "Lester, Woody has been keeping me informed of your relationship with my daughter. Woody says that Allie Jo is quite taken with you also. You need to get some rest, both of you. Mostly because I don't want to answer to my little girl if something happens to you."

"My pumpkin would be devastated if something happened to you because you were too exhausted to react. Stephanie has mentioned that Bobby is a medic. If you don't at least try to get some rest, I'm sure he has something in that bag he carries that will make you get some rest." Mr. Plum says.

"Ranger, we'll wake you and Lester as soon as we find something." Morelli adds.

Then Lester and I were kicked out of MY conference room.


	17. Chapter 17

I don't own or make any money off of this. Pretty much everything belongs to JE, but Allie Jo is my own creation.

A/N: I actually finished this story over a week ago. I prefer to hand write everything and then type it later. I appreciate all of the comments that everyone's been leaving.

Chapter 17

SPOV

When the truck came to a stop earlier, I thought that he would go ahead and move us. Instead, I heard boxes moving around before he closed the back of the truck again. Luckily, it's the middle of the night and the weather is on the cool side.

Allie Jo and I spent most of our time trying to find something to pick the lock on our handcuffs and trying to decide where Valentine had taken us. If Valentine is using his uncle's cabin it shouldn't have taken more than a hour to a hour and a half to get here. I'm not sure how long Allie Jo and I have been in the back of this delivery truck, but it has to be at least twice that long. Allie Jo and I were still discussing possible locations that Valentine could have taken us, when we hear someone walking across gravel.

"It's show time." Allie Jo says. We close our eyes and pretend to be still drugged.

Valentine POV

My uncle's old cabin is located just outside of Double Trouble State Park. The trip should only take a little over an hour, but I drove down towards Willingboro before heading towards the cabin. I made the trip take two and a half hours out of my way, to make it difficult for Stephanie and her friend to figure out where we are. I decided to leave the girls in the truck and go fix me something to eat. I have them chained inside the truck, so they won't be going anywhere.

After my late night dinner, I double check the chains that I have to the bed for Stephanie and get extra chains for her friend. When I'm sure everything is secure, I head out to collect my new toys. When I open the back door of the delivery truck, both of them are still passed out. I hope I didn't give them too much. I would hate for them to die, before I have my fun.

SPOV

As soon as Allie Jo and I heard Valentine coming back to the truck, we pretended to be passed out. When Valentine opened the back door of the truck, and I can hear him check to make sure Allie Jo handcuffs were still secure and used a chain to chain her to a bar inside the truck. Valentine picked me up and carried me inside. I thought about trying to get away, but I didn't want to leave Allie Jo behind. Especially, since he thinks that Allie Jo is me. I try to watch through the slits of my eyes to see if I can figure out where we are, but it's too dark out. Valentine carries me into what looks like what could be his uncle's old cabin. At least I hope this is his uncle's cabin. Maybe Carlos and the Merry Men find my notes.

Valentine takes me into the cabin, thru the living room and into a bedroom. I thought that he wouldn't drug me again, but I guess that he didn't want to take any chances. Unfortunately that was wishful thinking, because I feel a prick of a needle in my arm and I was out in seconds.

Allie Jo POV

Valentine takes Stephanie first. I consider making a break for it when he comes to uncuff me to take me into the house, but decide against it. This guy has about a hundred pounds of muscle on me and I'm not stupid enough to try to take him on by myself. I'm going to need Stephanie's help to fight him.

About thirty minutes after he left with Stephanie, he came back for me.

"I know you're awake. Be a good little girl and maybe your friend will make it out of this alive." He threatens. I notice that he doesn't include me into that getting out of here alive statement. "Get up and don't even think about trying to run."

Valentine removes my blindfold and drags me into an old log cabin that has obviously been neglected for more than a few years.

"Where are we?" I ask trying my best not to let my fake Jersey accent slip.

"Doesn't matter." Valentine replies. He pulls out a dining room chair. "Sit!" he orders.

I try to sound brave when I answer, "No!" My answer was met with a hard slap across my face. I could taste blood on the side of my mouth.

"Sit!" he yells.

This time, I comply with his demand. He uses the handcuffs to secure my hands behind the back of the chair and ties each of my legs to the chair legs.

"You will answer my questions, or I will hit you again. If you refuse, I will go to the other room and have a little fun with your friend. Do you understand?"

I nod.

"You will speak when I talk to you!" He yells, as he uses the back of his hand to hit me across my face again.

"Who's your friend?" he asks.

I decide to try lying first. The longer I can keep her identity, even her fake one, a secret, the safer Stephanie will be. "I don't know. I just met her at the club tonight."

My answer earns me a punch to my stomach.

"Liar! You were shopping together on Sunday!"

Crap! I was really hoping that when he detonated the car bomb that he was too far away to recognize us. So much for hoping.

"Let's try this again! Who is your friend?" He yells again.

I'll try a different approach this time and keep my answers simple. "Rosa."

"Last name!" Valentine demands as he backhands me again.

"Santos." I whisper.

"Did you say Santos? As in Lester Santos?" He asks.

I don't answer him, which earns me another punch to my stomach.

Valentine begins pacing the floor. "This is even better than I planned. Not only do I get Manoso's woman, but I get his cousin, too." Next thing I know, I feel a prick and everything goes black.

LPOV

Ranger and I may have been kicked out of the conference room, but we never agreed to go to our apartments to rest. Instead, we each head to our offices. I agree with Mr. Plum and Mr. Harrison, we both need some rest, but I can't rest until I know that Allie Jo and Stephanie are safe. I decide to leave my office light off and the door cracked open. Hopefully, no one will notice and send Bobby in here to drug me. I grab my laptop and walk over to lie down on my couch and reread the information that we have on Valentine hoping to see something that we may have missed.

At some point I my adrenaline must have crashed and I dozed off. Because the next thing I knew could hear Mr. Plum yelling from the conference room, "I know where they are!"

I immediately take off running into the conference room entering just behind Ranger.

"My Pumpkin found it! She high-lighted it when she was doing her research!" Frank exclaimed, handing the file to Ranger. Ranger flips the file open and reads while Frank continues.

"Valentine has an uncle that died about six years ago. He owned a cabin. No one in the family ever changed on the deed." Frank says excitedly.

"Where's the cabin located?" I ask.

"In the Pine Barrens," Frank answers, "just south of the Double Trouble State Park."

Ranger orders, "Everyone suit up! Let's go get our girls."

RPOV

I am so proud of my Babe. Once Junior found the research Babe had done, I had no doubt that she would lead us right to where Valentine is keeping them.

Earlier, while Lester and I were supposed to resting, Bobby identified the man that drove the delivery truck to Calor. It was Tobias Coleman. Coleman will do anything to make a quick buck. He deals with anything to selling drugs to petty theft.

While my team were suiting up, Morelli, Eddie, and Carl were heading to Stark Street to search for Coleman. Morelli promised that when they find Coleman, that Coleman would probably have a couple of accidents before making it to the police station.

We loaded up in 4 SUV and the surveillance van. We were silent, getting into our zone, preparing to rescue Babe and Allie Jo.

All of Rangeman wanted to help Rescue my Babe and Allie Jo, but I chose my core team along with Woody, Hal, Junior, Hector, and Cal for my team. Mr. Plum and Mr. Harrison were coming along, but staying in the surveillance van while we go in to rescue Babe and Allie Jo.


	18. Chapter 18

I don't own or make any money off of this. Pretty much everything belongs to JE, but Allie Jo is my own creation.

A/N: I actually finished this story over a week ago. I prefer to hand write everything and then type it later. I appreciate all of the comments that everyone's been leaving.

Chapter 18

SPOV

When I open my eyes, my handcuffs and chains were gone. I was lying on a twin size bed. Across from me on the other twin size bed was Allie Jo. She was conscious, but obviously beaten. I stand up and walk over to her. She has a bloody lip and her jaw is bruised.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

I'll be as good as new in a week." She moans. "What idiot kidnapper leaves his captives in a room together not tied up. This guy is either entirely too cocky or entirely too stupid. He left us a change of clothes on the night stand. I guess he was planning on keeping you here for a while, because he came prepared. He also left us something to eat."

I look over and see two white t-shirts and two pairs of yoga pants. There are also socks, but no shoes or underwear. I'm actually glad that there's no underwear. It would have been beyond creepy if he knew what size of bra and panties to buy.

I help Allie Jo stand so she can go to the bathroom to change her clothes. The bathroom, unfortunately, has no window. I help Allie Jo to the bathroom and close the door. While she's in the bathroom, I survey the room. There's a lamp on the nightstand. Other than the nightstands, the twin beds are the only other furniture in the room.

There is no window, so figuring out how long we've been here is out. Allie Jo was right; Valentine had left us granola bars and bottled water. The granola bars are in the wrappers, but the water looks like the seal has been broken. I grab a granola bar and begin eating. If we drink anything, we better drink straight from the sink.

I hear the water faucet turn on, so I go stand by the door waiting to see if she needs any help. When Allie Jo comes out of the bathroom, she has brushed her hair and pulled it into a pony tail.

"Any idea what time it is?" She asks.

"No clue." I tell her. "It was probably around one in the morning when we got here. He's drugged us so much I've lost most of my concept of time. My best guess is around is the middle of the afternoon. He left us granola bars and bottled water. The granola bars looks fine, but I'm not sure if he tampered with the bottled water or not." I head to the bathroom to answer nature's call and change my clothes.

When I walk back into the bedroom Allie Jo is sitting on the bed, eating her granola bar. "I may know a way we can escape." She says.

"I'm all ears."

"There's a hairbrush and a couple of more rubber bands in the bathroom. We need to get you out of that wig. Since our clothes are exactly the same, if you pull your hair into a ponytail like mine. He probably won't be able to tell us apart, even with your spray tan. Leave your contacts in, too. If you take them out, it might make him realize that you're the real Stephanie. Maybe the green will throw him off." Allie Jo says, taking another bite of the granola bar.

"So we're going to confuse him." I think I see where she's going with this.

"Yeah," she says, "is you knee as lethal as Woody says it is?"

"I don't know about lethal, but I've taken down my fair share of skips using my knee."

"Good, because we may need it."

"We can also use the lamp to hit him over the head." I suggest.

"Good idea. If we get the opportunity to run, you need to run. If we look the same, but run in the opposite directions, he won't know which one to follow. No matter what happens to me you run. I fight him and hold him off giving you enough time to get out of sight."

"But he's already beaten you once." I argue.

"Yeah, but I was tied up. This time I won't be, just promise me you'll run." Allie Jo pleads.

"Okay," I agree. "How will we find each other, if we're separated?"

"Just run until you find someplace safe to hide. I grew up near the Ozark Mountains. My father taught me how to track in case I ever got lost in the woods when I was little. I'll be able to find you."

"You know how to track? Why?" I ask.

"Let's just say when I was in third grade, I was too adventurous for my own good. One day I decided to explore the woods near my house. I was so excited about my little adventure; I forgot to tell my mom where I was going. I ended up getting lost. Thank goodness it was summer and not winter. My parents and neighbors formed a search party. One of the neighbors found me the next morning, sleeping at the bottom of a tree."

"Were you scared?"

"Nope, I was too brave for my own good. I never realized that I was lost, much less that I should be scared. I guess when you're seven, you don't think about bobcats and bears being in the woods in the middle of the night."

When she mentioned bobcats and bears, I must have looked terrified, because she added, "If we get separated, find someplace safe. Preferably up high, climb a tree if you have to. Don't worry, we'll be fine."

I have to admit, being kidnapped with someone is a lot better than being alone. Having Allie Jo to talk to helps me keep control of my emotions.

I went back to the backroom to remove my wig and brush my hair out. I pulled my hair up in a ponytail like Allie Jo.

Valentine hasn't checked on us since he brought Allie Jo into the room. He probably put something in the water and assumes that we're still drugged.

The plan was to sit and wait. Since there were no windows in the bedroom, we really didn't have much choice. I sat on the bed and Allie Jo sat next to the wall, so that when Valentine opens the door, she'll be hid behind it. Hopefully, while he's dealing with me, she can attack from behind. Once she jumps on his back, I'm going to attack from the front. We're counting on a swift kick to his manhood will take him down. Then we'll run.

Valentine's POV

I didn't bother to tie them up this time. I have beaten Stephanie and I'm sure Rosa is too scared to try to escape. Just to be safe I crushed up a sleeping pill for each of their bottled waters.

I spend a few hours going over my plan to toy with Manoso. I have that idiot I hired from Stark Street ready to send Manoso emails every couple of hours starting giving false information on how to find Stephanie. Coleman is just waiting on a text message from my burn phone giving him the go ahead. He'll end up on the other side of Pennsylvania if Coleman is able to send all of the false information. I figure that Manoso will find Coleman after the first couple of emails and kill him. If he eliminates Coleman, that just ties up a loose end for me.

After I finish going over my plan, I decide that it might be fun to beat Stephanie again. This time I think that I'll record and send it to Coleman so that he can forward to Manoso with the emails. I walk over to the bedroom door and reach for the door knob.

LPOV

According to the GPS, we should arrive at our drop off point for Valentine's cabin in fifteen minutes. I am armed with every possible gun and knife I can carry. We all are. I swear if he's harmed one hair on Allie Jo or Stephanie's head, he'll be begging for death.

Allie Jo's POV

My dad always stressed that I should be able to defend myself. He made sure that I could shoot any type of firearm and he made me take self defense. One time he even made me practice throwing knives, saying 'One day you might need to know this, in case you don't have a gun to protect yourself.' I never thought I'd actually have to use any of it. When Father's Day comes around, I'm going to have to buy him a really big gift to thank him.

I was mentally making a list of every possible gift I could buy him when I heard the locks tumble on the door to our room. I look at Steph and she nods. I quickly stand up, preparing myself to pounce on Valentine when he enters the room.

Valentine walks in the room, "Where's your friend?" he demands.

Stephanie answers, "Bathroom."

He begins to walk towards Steph and I immediately jump on his back. I try to wrap my hands around his large neck. While he tries to pull me off of him, Steph runs over and kicks him where it counts. The kick takes him to his knees, but doesn't knock him out. I grab the lamp and hit him over the head as hard as I can, finally knocking him out. Steph looks at me and yells, "RUN!"


	19. Chapter 19

I don't own or make any money off of this. Pretty much everything belongs to JE, but Allie Jo is my own creation.

A/N: I actually finished this story over a week ago. I prefer to hand write everything and then type it later. I appreciate all of the comments that everyone's been leaving.

Chapter 19

RPOV

We decide to leave our vehicles approximately three miles from the cabin's location. Since its beginning to get dark, we can get to the cabin undetected through the woods. When we reach the drop off point, we climb out of the SUV's and gather around.

Tank unfolds a topography map of the area. "This is our location," Tanks tells the group, pointing to the location on the map. "This is the location of the cabin." He says pointing to a location on the map that is to the west of us. "By cutting through the woods, we will cut our distance in half. Once we get to the cabin, we will access the location before we decide the best way to rescue Bomber and Allie Jo. Mr. Plum and Mr. Harrison will be with Hal waiting with the SUV's to drive to the cabin, once Valentine is contained. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their head no.

"Fall out!" I order.

We made our way through the woods silently. When we reach the edge of the woods next to the cabin, we hold our positions watching and waiting to make sure Valentine is alone. I was about to order my men to advance on the cabin, when the cabin door suddenly swings open. Two people come running out.

Lester and I step into the clearing.

SPOV

Once I yell "Run", Allie Jo and I take off, running for the door of the cabin. Once we clear the cabin door, I run straight for the woods, or at least I try to. My spidey sense must be off because instead of running straight for the woods, I run straight into a brick wall and fall backwards to the ground. I was trying to collect myself when I hear Allie Jo yell, "Let me go!" I look her direction to see Allie Jo send someone flying over her shoulder. Oh no! We never considered that he might not be alone. I was scrambling to my feet so I could take off running again, when I hear a voice that is music to my ears.

"Babe!"

"Carlos?" I ask. I blink my eyes trying to adjust to the dark when Carlos bends down and asks, "Are you okay?"

"Carlos!" I yell wrapping my arms around him neck as he picks me up and kisses me.

Allie Jo POV

Steph and I take off running out of the cabin. I'm running as fast as I can, when I run past something that grabs me.

"Let me go!" I yell, grabbing an arm and throwing whoever grabbed my over my shoulder.

"Ow! Sweetheart, you've got to stop doing that." He laughs.

"Lester?" I ask.

"You couldn't wait for me to save the day?" He continues to laugh.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" I ask leaning over him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He says standing up. "But if you can throw me like that, I'd love to see what you did to Valentine."

"It was mostly a combination of Steph's knee and a lamp broken over his head."

Ranger and Steph walk over to join us. "Proud of you, Babe." He tells her as he kisses Steph's temple.

"He's unconscious, but he probably won't be out long." Stephanie says. Ranger raises his hand and points toward the cabin. Six Rangeman, including Woody comes out of the woods and head straight for the cabin. Where did they come from?

A few minutes later, Woody comes out of the cabin and jogs over to us. Woody reports to Ranger that the location is secure and Valentine is in handcuffs. Then Woody turns to me, giving me a hug, and asks, "Are you alright, little cuz?".

Ranger pulls out satellite phone and calls someone. "Mr. Plum, could you, Mr. Harrison, and Hal drive the SUV's the rest of the way to the cabin. The girls appear fine, except Allie Jo has a busted lip and a bruise on her jaw. I'm about to have Bobby check them out."

Steph and I at Ranger in disbelief, and ask at the same time, "Why is my dad here?"

Lester shakes his head and says, "I've seen combat during war time. I've been on missions where I didn't know if I would make it out alive, but nothing is scarier than when the two of you talk like that."

SPOV

Finally, Allie Jo and I convinced Bobby that we are fine. He wouldn't let up until the examined both of us. I personally think that he knew we were fine, but he didn't want Ranger calling him to the mats for disobeying orders. By the time we were given the okay, or fathers were driving up.

My dad climbs out of the SUV and I run over to meet him. He gives me a hug and asks, "Are you okay, Pumpkin?"

"I'm fine, Daddy." I answer as Allie Jo and her father runs up to us. I introduce Allie Jo to my dad and she introduces me to hers. Both of our fathers just keep looking at us, until Allie Jo father says, "Unbelieveable."

"I know," my dad agrees. "When they showed us the pictures, I knew that they favored one another, but know that their standing right in front of us….Wow. They could be identical twins, except for the eye color."

"Dad, if you wouldn't mind excusing me," Allie Jo says. "I would like to head back into the cabin with the guys. Valentine got in a couple of good punches when he had me tied to a chair and I would like to return the favor."

"Who am I to deprive my little girl of what she wants." Mr. Harrison replies. "Besides, I wouldn't mind a turn with him myself."

"I'm with you, Jack. I wouldn't mind getting a punch or two in myself. Especially before Ranger's men have a chance to do enough damage on their own."

Allie Jo POV

When we enter the cabin, Valentine is tied to the same chair that I was tied to. Woody had just finished landing a punch to Valentine's face when Ranger asks, "Alright. Who's next?"

"I am." I answer stepping forward.

Lester places his hand on my shoulder and asks, "Are you sure you want to do that, Sweetheart?"

"Step away, Lester. I deserve my turn." Lester holds his hands up in surrender and backs away. . When I land my first punch to Valentine's face, I hear Lester say, "Man, that's hot!" I smile as my second punch connects to Valentine's ribs.

I not sure how long it is before they pull me away. By the time they do convince me to stop, Valentine is unconscious.

"Bobby, check her hands." Ranger orders.

"I'm fine." I tell him.

"Allie Jo, let Bobby check your hands." My dad says firmly.

I hold my hands out for Bobby to check. After checking to see if I can still move my fingers, he decides that they will only bruise. I look at Steph and ask, "Do you want a turn?"

"I'm not much of a fighter. I'll wait until he wakes up so I can stun him a few times." She tells me.

About fifteen or twenty minutes later, Valentine slowly wakes up. His eyes widen in shock as he looks at me then at Stephanie. I guess he didn't get a good look at us earlier when we attacked him. I knew this guy was an idiot.

SPOV

"How are there two of you?" Valentine asks.

I look at him with a smirk on my face. "I don't know what you're talking about. I only see one of me. How many of me do you see, Allie Jo?" I ask her.

"Yep, I only see one of you, too." She agrees.

I turn and look at Carlos and ask, "Carlos, do you think Valentine is tired? I mean, he must be, because he's seeing double. Maybe he needs to rest his eyes." I reach my hand out and Carlos hands me a stun gun. Then I turn to Valentine and ask, "Are you tired? Do you need a nap?" I press the stun gun to his neck and push the button. Then I turn around to Allie Jo and say, "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go home."


	20. Chapter 20

I don't own these characters or make any money off of this. Pretty much everything belongs to JE, but Allie Jo is my own creation.

A/N: I actually finished this story over a week ago. I prefer to hand write everything and then type it later. I appreciate all of the comments that everyone's been leaving.

Chapter 20

Once I used the stun gun on Valentine; Ranger and Lester drives our fathers, Allie Jo and I, to my parent's house. Grandma Mazur is standing on the front porch waiting for us.

"Isn't that a pip!" Grandma Mazur says as she looks from me to Allie Jo. "They say that everyone has a twin. I wonder if I will ever get to meet mine."

Allie Jo and I laugh as Ranger and Lester shudder in fear at the thought of another Grandma Mazur. My dad starts muttering about how the crazy old bat needs to be in a home. Some things never change.

We follow Grandma into the kitchen, where we find my mother and Mrs. Harrison cooking. Allie Jo and I stay in the kitchen with our mothers, while the guys excuse their selves to the living room to escape Grandma Mazur.

"Connie and Lula left earlier when we received a call from Tank saying that both of you were safe. They were exhausted and to be honest, so am I. I think I'm going to bed. It's nice to meet you Allie Jo." Grandma says before turning to me and giving me a hug. "Good night, grandbaby. I love you."

"I love you, too, Grandma." I smile as I return her hug. Then I turn to ask my mom, "Why are you cooking? It's after midnight."

"We didn't know when the last time that the two of you had a decent meal." When my mom mentions a decent meal, my stomach starts growling. "And from the sounds of it, it's probably been awhile. So Allie Jo's mom, Christina, and I made lasagna, green beans, breadsticks, and salad for Ranger, of course. I also made a pineapple upside down cake."

In my family, with the exception of Grandma Mazur, we say I love you with food, instead of actually words. "Thank you, mom. The only thing we've had to eat is " I tell her.

My mother pulls me over to the side. "Stephanie, I realize that you haven't had a decent meal since last night, but could we talk in private for a moment?"

I hesitate before saying, "Sure, mom." I brace myself, preparing for her to begin her 'Why me?' speech, as I follow her out to the front porch. When we step out on the front porch, I'm shocked by what she has to say.

"Stephanie," my mother begins. "I'm sorry." I look up at her confused. I must be hearing things.

My mom continues, "While that awful man had you and Allie Jo, I really got to know Allie Jo's mom. To be honest, neither one of us has slept much in the last twenty four hours, so we had a lot of time we filled by cooking and talking. Apparently, you and Allie Jo share a lot more than similar looks."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"From what Christina has told me, Allie Jo is strong willed, exactly like you. I used to think that was a bad thing, but Christina explained some things to me. From what she told me they have a wonderful relationship. They talk almost every day and rarely argue. I would like to have that type of relationship with you."

Here it come, the speech where 'Why can't my daughter be like Christina Harrison's daughter' speech.

"Christina told me that when Allie Jo was a teenager, she tried to control every decision that Allie Jo made. Apparently, it took years of trying to conceive before Allie Jo came along, so Christina was overprotective. She would even dictate which what streets Allie Jo drove on when she came home from school. That resulted in six months of barely speaking to each other. One day, when Allie Jo was sixteen, she saw a father slapping his son around in a grocery store parking lot. The father was a large man and a known drug user, and the boy was about six. Allie Jo had a friend call 911 and went over to intervene. She put the boy behind her and the father tried to hit her. She only ended up with a couple of bruises from the man grabbing her, but she could have been really hurt. The police arrived quickly and arrested the man. Now if I had been Christina that would have made me more overprotective."

I give my mother a few moments to collect her thoughts. "Instead of becoming more protective of her daughter, it made her really examine her relationship with her daughter. Christina realized that Allie Jo despite may be impulsive, putting herself in danger, but Allie Jo let's her heart guide her decisions. The little boy that Allie Jo helped was placed in a loving foster home. Christina said that he graduated valedictorian of his high school class. Allie Jo is planning on going to his graduation at NYU in a few months. If she hadn't stepped in to protect him, he would have never had the opportunities that he was given by his foster family. Allie Jo has a heart of gold, just like you."

"Do you really think that I have a heart of gold?" I ask her. I could feel tears filling my eyes.

"Yes, dear. You're heart is pure gold. I realize that now." Mom continues. "Stephanie, I'm so sorry that I tried to push you into being what I thought that you should be. Stephanie, your heart reaches out to people. Even if you never remarry or become a mother, you life will be complete, because of all the people you help. Your friend, Lula, is a perfect example. Lula's life is better because she met you. You encouraged her to change her life when you met her while bounty hunting."

"Thanks, mom. That means a lot to me." I tell her.

"I'm not saying that I won't continue to hope that one day you will marry again and give me grandchildren, but I will try to stop pushing you in a direction that you don't want to go. I hope that you will forgive me for putting you through that all these years. I love you, Stephanie."

We were both crying at this point. I can't remember mom telling me that she loves me very often in my life. She usually says it with pot roast and pineapple upside down cake.

"I love you, too, Mom." My stomach chose that moment to growl so loud that the neighbors probably heard three houses down. "Now let's go eat."


	21. Chapter 21

I don't own or make any money off of this. Pretty much everything belongs to JE, but Allie Jo is my own creation.

A/N: I actually finished this story over a week ago. I prefer to hand write everything and then type it later. I appreciate all of the comments that everyone's been leaving.

Chapter 21

Allie Jo POV

I don't know what went on with Steph and her mom, but I could tell that those were happy tears in their eyes when they came back into the house. Ranger walks over to Steph and asks if she's okay. She smiles and nods. Just like a man, they see a woman crying and assume it's bad.

Despite how late it is, Woody drove over in his personal SUV to join us for our extremely late dinner. While eating we laugh and talk. If it wasn't so late at night, someone would probably think that it was a typically family dinner. Once dinner is over, Mrs. Plum serves the pineapple upside down cake. Everyone quiets down over the dessert and decaffeinated coffee.

"Son, what are your intentions with my daughter?" I close my eyes tight, mentally chanting, 'Please be Mr. Plum. Please be Mr. Plum.' I open one eye and my dad is staring down Lester waiting for an answer.

"Daddy, I love you, but this is neither the time nor the place. We've all had a long twenty four hours. Do not put Lester through this." Daddy always said that he respected me when I stood up to him, as long as I did it calmly and rationally.

"Actually, Allie Jo, I would like to answer your father. Do you mean short term or long term, sir? Lester asks.

My eyes keeping traveling from Daddy to Lester, I know that my mouth is hanging open in shock.

My mom takes a sip of her coffee and simply says, "Close your mouth, dear, before a fly decides to take up residence in there."

"Let's start with short term and work our way up to the long term." My father says.

Lester sits there for a moment before he speaks. "Well, sir…for the short term, I would like to finish our first date, since it was interrupted by unfortunate circumstances. Secondly, on the short term, I would like to apologize to Allie Jo."

"Apologize?" I ask. "Why?"

Lester turns and looks at me, as he continues, "Well, on Sunday after the explosion, I told you a little of how I feel about you, but I did it in Spanish. I was too much of a coward to say it in English. I was trying to protect my pride and I'm sorry for that. When Hector told me that you speak Spanish fluently, I was shocked. But I was also relieved, because I would have never had the courage to say those things if I knew that you could understand me."

"Lester, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I could understand you." I apologized.

Lester takes me by the hand and looks deep into my eyes. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry if saying I scared you when I said those things."

"Don't be sorry, Lester. If you hadn't said what you did, I would still be in denial of how strong my feelings are for you." I tell him.

"Really?" Lester grins.

"Really." I smile.

Lester eyes never leave mine as he continues, "Mr. Harrison, as far as the long term, I do not plan to make the same mistakes that my cousin has made with Stephanie. No offense, Ranger."

"None taken, but if you do it again, I'm calling you to the mats." Ranger says.

Lester continues, placing my hand on his heart, "Mr. Harrison, I plan to pursue a relationship with your daughter. I hope one day with your permission that she'll agree to marry me. That is if she will have me. I realize that we just met a few days ago and that it is really too soon for me to speak this way. Heck, we haven't even shared our first kiss, but I want to be honest with you, sir. I'm falling in love with your daughter and I want to be up front with my intentions involving Allie Jo."

I'm looking at Lester completely unaware of the friends and family that are in the room with us. It's extremely rare for me to be speechless, but my mind is only capable of saying two words at the moment.

"Fix it." I whisper.

"Fix what?" Lester asks.

"We haven't had our first kiss and I want you to fix it." I tell him again.

"Right now? In front of your parents?" He asks.

"Yes, right now. Fix it." I quietly plea. Then Lester leans over and kisses me with such sincere passion. The kiss holds a promise of a future, together. A kiss unlike anything I have ever experienced.

When we pull away, everyone at the table is silently looking at us. My mom and Mrs. Plum are dabbing their eyes crying. Dad, Woody, and Woody are smiling. Even Ranger has a grin on his face.

At some point Stephanie's grandmother came downstairs to join us. "Ain't that a pip. Another one of the Merry Men with a great package is off the market." Then she looks over to Woody. "How about you? Are you single?" she asks him. I swear Woody turns green.

Everyone seems to be caught up in the moment. That is with the exception of Mr. Plum, who turns to Ranger and asks, "So, Ranger….what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"I…Uh…" Ranger stammers. Everyone looks over at Ranger. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Stephanie doesn't look much better. I glance over to Lester, who looks like he's about to fall out of his chair laughing.

"Thanks for dinner, mom. You really didn't have to go the trouble, but I appreciate it. It's late and Allie Jo and I need to get some rest after all we've been through." Stephanie jumps up as she grabs Ranger by his hand, dragging Ranger to the door as quickly as possible. Lester and I follow them outside since they are our ride.


	22. Chapter 22

I don't own or make any money off of this. Pretty much everything belongs to JE, but Allie Jo is my own creation.

A/N: I actually finished this story over a week ago. I prefer to hand write everything and then type it later. I appreciate all of the comments that everyone's been leaving.

Chapter 22

Epilogue

_One Year Later_

SPOV

Allie Jo and I never asked what happened to Valentine. I guess it was one of those questions that we both felt was best left unanswered. All we know is that the state and local police were told that Valentine was long gone by the time Carlos, Lester, and the rest of the Merry Men found us.

Allie Jo stayed on at Rangeman, and occasionally goes along with Lula and me to catch skips. It's absolutely hilarious when I knock on the front door and the skip tries to make a run for it, only to find Allie Jo waiting at the back door. Most of the time the skip is so freaked out that they immediately surrender. Once a skip offered to handcuff himself.

Allie Jo and I even do more of the medium to medium-high bonds now. A couple of months ago, Connie gave me paperwork on Ronnie De Lucca. De Lucca is known for doing a series of armed robberies. However, while he was holding up his latest convenience store, he shot three customers and the store clerk. The store clerk almost didn't make it and will spend the rest of his life with limited use of his right arm. In other words, De Lucca is not a nice guy and we probably should have passed this one on to Rangeman.

Allie Jo, Lula, and I had to decide to go with the standard, one at the front door and two at the back door approach. I waited, giving Allie Jo and Lula time to get in place, before I knocked on the door.

When I knock on the door, a very large, extremely muscled De Lucca opens the door. Gulp. He's bigger than I thought he would be and he doesn't look happy.

"What do you want?" he demands.

"Ronnie De Lucca?" I ask.

"What's it to you?" he sneers.

"I represent Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date and I need you to come with….." I never get the rest out because he picks me up by my neck and throws me into the bushes next to his house, before slamming the door. It takes me a minute to collect myself. I can hear yelling around the back of the house. As I run to the backyard, I grab my phone and hit the number one on my speed dial saying." Carlos. Ronnie De Lucca. Help.", and hang up.

When I run around the side of the house, Lula has her gun pointed in the direction of Allie Jo and De Lucca yelling, "Hold still, so I can shoot him!"

Allie Jo is on the ground wrestling with De Lucca.

"Lula, put the gun away!" I yell as I jump in to try and help Allie Jo.

Allie Jo yells, "Lula! Sit on him!"

Lula runs over and jumps on De Lucca like a WWE wrestler. Allie Jo and I barely get out of the way in time. When Lula lands on him, De Luca deflates like a bad tire. Allie Jo helps me roll him over to handcuff him. Once we have De Lucca secure, the three of us do our happy dance, which has become a tradition since Allie Jo's first take down. That's when we notice laughter from behind us. Carlos, Lester, and Tank are doubled over, holding their sides laughing.

"Is this the secret tradition that you refuse to tell me about, Babe? If it is, I can understand why you won't take any of my men with you on takedowns when Allie Jo comes along." Carlos says laughing.

"Carlos, the sprinkler and the running man are two very respectable dances." I tell him. "Now help us load this big guy up."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, I'm sure the sight of us doing those dances was pretty funny.

As far as car, over the last year, Allie Jo and I have lost five cars in four explosions. None of which is either of our faults. Two explosions were caused by skip's Molotov cocktails. One was caused by a skip with a cigarette lighter that Lula forgot to confiscate when she searched him. The last one happened last week and, well, we're not sure what caused it. The guys in the Rangeman lab are still investigating that one.

Ranger and Lester had just given Allie Jo and me each a new car. They had the cars stored at one of those high security rental storage places. We never even had the opportunity to drive the cars. Ranger and Lester had pushed the remote to open the garage door to reveal our gifts. My car was blue, and Allie Jo's was silver. We never even got close enough to see what kind of care they were, before flames started shooting out from the storage units. Lester says it's because our cars were in side by side storage units and that it was bound to happen. I'm glad he thinks it's funny, because we sure don't.

One day, when Allie Jo and I were at Pino's, we ran into Joe and Jenny. Allie apologized to teaching Joe a lesson and giving him a black eye. Needless to say, after that we've all become great friends. The best part is that Joe doesn't call me 'Cupcake' anymore.

Also, once a month Jenny joins Lula, Connie, Mary Lou, Allie Jo, and me for a girl's night. Sometimes we go we got out to dinner and other times we go dancing. Occasionally, we let Carlos, Lester, Tank, Joe, Lenny, and Woody join us. Connie won't admit to anything, but I think that she and Woody maybe dating and not telling us about it.

Lester proposed to Allie Jo after dating for only three months. They were married four months ago. I've never seen him happier. Well, that will probably change tonight. Allie Jo was at the bonds office with me this morning, turning in receipts, and took one look at Lula's bucket of chicken and ran to the bathroom sick. Connie became convinced that Allie Jo is pregnant, sent Lula to buy a pregnancy test. It was positive. She is waiting until tonight to tell Lester. It took Connie, Lula, and me an hour to calm her down for our hair appointments.

Lester doesn't call me Beautiful anymore. And I'm fine with that. He now calls me Firecracker, which stems from an incident on Fourth of July. We have rented a large log cabin on a mountain near where Allie Jo grew up in Arkansas for some rest and relaxation. And it was restful and relaxing until my sparkler caught the deck on fire, within minutes the entire cabin was in flames. Needless to say, Carlos made a large donation to the volunteer fire department for a job well done.

Luckily, Carlos had my engagement ring in this pocket. That's right, we're engaged. It's a beautiful, two carat princess cut diamond. My mother is thrilled. She has done a great job the past year not pushing marriage and setting a wedding date on me and Carlos. She's not pushed for us to start a family either. Instead, she sends Julie birthday and Christmas presents, as well as, gifts that are just because.

That brings me to today. I'm so excited, that I can't stand still. I'm sure Carlos is calm and collected, as usual. I have only one bridesmaid, Carlos daughter, Julie. Rachel brought Julie up from Florida for the ceremony. We even let Julie pick out the style and color of her dress. She chose a black, tea length spaghetti strap dress. I wasn't surprised when she picked black. It's proof that old saying is true, 'like father, like daughter'. The white calla lilies look beautiful with the dress.

We decided to have a nice, quiet at….the bat cave. Apparently, there was no bat cave until after the slayer incident. Carlos said that after I stayed at his apartment, he bought a beach house at Point Pleasant, hoping that one day we could call it home.

The girls are putting the finishing touches on my wedding dress. My mom gave me handkerchief that she used on her wedding day as my something old. Carlos gave me a diamond necklace as my something new. Grandma Mazur gave me a pair of earrings that once was her mother's as my something borrowed. And my garter is my something blue.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

My dad sticks his head into the room where I just finished getting ready. "Pumpkin, are you ready?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I answer.

We walk to the beach where our friends are standing. Julie is already standing across from Carlos, as an acoustic guitar begins playing an instrumental version on Bruno Mar's Just the Way You Are, as I walk down the aisle.

Carlos and I never take our eyes off of each other. Today, Carlos' blank face is gone. The love in his eyes is on display for everyone to see.

When we finally reach Carlos, he takes me by the hand as the minister begins, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today….."


End file.
